Coffee and Antioxidants..The Brew That Can Help Reduce Cancer Risk

Coffee and Antioxidants

Question..Name the number one source of antioxidants in Americans' diets?

Guess..Blueberries, oranges, Strawberries maybe?

Surprised? I was when I discovered that fact. But it's true. In fact, according to research, it was found that no other food or beverage comes anywhere near to providing as many antioxidants in our diets as coffee.

I guess this statistic is greatly enhanced by the fact that, in general, people drink a whole lot more coffee than they eat say, broccoli, berries or dates etc...

Now coffee is fine, as research suggests, but in moderation.

One or two cups per day is just fine, but any more that that is counterproductive.

In fact there seems to be many potential health benefits associated with coffee and antioxidants. It has been linked to a decrease in the risk of Parkinson's disease and it is also believed to even reduce the risk of gallstones.

Coffee contains polyphenols, which is a type of antioxidant, the same as those found in fruit and wine.

Coffee and Antioxidants..Protection Against Lung, Rectal and Liver Cancers

They studied 993 former smokers. Of the people who drank at least 2 cups of decaf each day were less likely to develop lung cancer..by up to 36 per cent, compared to those who drank caffeinated black tea or coffee.

Another study carried out in Japan showed that folks who drank coffee on a daily (or almost daily) basis, had about half the risk of developing a type of liver cancer compared to people who never drank coffee. Interestingly, the risk of cancer decreased with an increase in the amount of coffee consumed each day.

Although it's not clear why decaf offers more protection than regular coffee, however what is clear is that antioxidants in coffee offer protection against cancer.

Researchers also found that drinking 2 or more cups of decaf coffee may lower the incidence of rectal cancer by a staggering 52 per cent! The reason for this could be down to regular bowel movements, enhanced by the coffee speeding up all the things through the body, thus decreasing the risk. I'll drink to that!

Ok, so it's all looking good for coffee and antioxidants, however, before you go out and chug a 32 ouncer, remember that you can have too much of a good thing. Moderation is the strong advice here.

Another health benefit of coffee is that it has been shown to increase mood and alertness.

Too much regular coffee will give you that caffeine over-loading sensation, and gets your molecules vibrating! Another study found that people who drank two or more cups of Java a day actually had higher levels of inflammatory markers linked to heart disease.

As we all know, caffeinated coffee can play havoc with sleep, and it can increase heart rates so the best advice is talk to your health practitioner before drinking coffee if you have high blood pressure issues etc.

Related Pages at This Website

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Antioxidants and Cancer

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