LiveLongAgeWell

Occasionally I will post an excerpt from the draft of the book I am writing: How To Drop Dead Dancing In Your 90s: Live Long Age Well. Frequently people ask me about coffee: is it really good for you? is caffeinated OK?  So I chose to include this sample. Here is Part One from the coffee section of my upcoming book…

Antioxidant Rich…Drink It…Especially Caffeinated

It seems almost natural to think that all those great anti-oxidants are found only in colorful fruits and vegetables, so we might find it hard to believe that something so colorless and flat and black as coffee could be so healthy for you, but it is. If you drink caffeinated coffee, lose your guilt, because you are enjoying something that, it turns out, is really good for you, and as a bonus gives you a natural mental and physical boost. Coffee is full of anti-oxidants and there are many studies now that show coffee is almost a new super-food, with little downside. It doesn’t lead to ulcers, hypertension, or cancer. Quite the opposite is true. Recently an international research group rated the per-serving antioxidant content of foods and amazingly, coffee ranked higher on the list than either blueberries or red wine. In the American diet, coffee may be the #1 source of anti-oxidants.

There is excellent evidence coffee protects your liver from damage and decreases the risk of cirrhosis and gallstones, so especially if you do drink more alcohol—even wine or beer—than generally advised (one to two drinks per day), you should probably also drink a few cups of coffee daily (although cutting down on the alcohol would be better). A 2005 Japanese study showed that people who drank 3 or more cups of coffee per day had a 50% less risk of liver cancer, and there is evidence coffee drinkers also have a lower risk for colon cancer. Coffee can temporarily raise your blood pressure and heart rate, but does not lead to the disease of hypertension.

For diabetics and for those worried about becoming diabetic as they get older: coffee should be fine for you. While there is still some controversy, both decaf and caffeinated coffee seem to lower the chance of developing diabetes, though the protective effect is better with caffeinated coffee. Another advantage of caffeinated coffee is that while decaf can lead to an increase in both your total and LDL (bad) cholesterol,  caffeinated coffee will not; in fact, the caffeinated version is most likely good for your heart, as it tends to raise your HDL (good) cholesterol level.

Let’s talk about your brain on coffee. We all know that regular coffee will boost your energy level, temporarily at least, but more important, caffeinated coffee seems to have what is called a “neuroprotective effect”, and a number of studies have shown a 40-80% decreased risk of Parkinson’s disease in people who regularly drink more than one cup of (caffeinated, not decaf) coffee per day. However, if you are a post-menopausal woman who has been on estrogen therapy, this anti-Parkinson’s effect apparently does not hold for you.

All this is remarkable enough, but further studies now are suggesting that caffeinated coffee probably protects you from long-term memory loss, and even cuts your chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers are now working to develop various coffee-related compounds that might result in treatments for Parkinson’s disease, alcoholism, alcoholic liver disease, and even depression.

On Monday…practical pointers on ways to maximize the health benefits of coffee.