Coffee is good for you?

That's a new one. If such claims are, ah, valid, I wonder what the basis of the claim is and with what amount of consumption.

There have been some recently published articles about the value of coffee. Still, it is coffee in moderation (like everything else). One to two cups a day is plenty. Question is: What size cup do you use to measure it?

I know for me - without a cup of coffee a day, well, I wouldn't have any room to eat anything. So for me, it's as much a medicine as my Evista and Detrol LA.

According to this article in WebMD, coffee can lower risk for type 2 diabetes, parkinsons, and colon cancer for men.

Well, I know coffee is good for me. As for a more general version of the term "you," not so sure...

I found this:

http://www.energiseforlife.com/wordpress/2911/is-coffee-good-for-you

Coffee is blood and I am a vampire.

Gehanna said:

The other day my husband told me that coffee was good for you. He said that people who drink coffee live longer, on average, than non coffee drinkers.

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The whole "coffee drinkers on average live longer" thing could be true solely because of those at bars whose "one more for the road" is a cup of coffee instead of yet another alcoholic beverage.

Statistics by themselves can be very misleading. If the numbers or results are important, it's always prudent to dig down to learn about the info and studies on which the statistics are based.

benbradley said:

The whole "coffee drinkers on average live longer" thing could be true solely because of those at bars whose "one more for the road" is a cup of coffee instead of yet another alcoholic beverage.

Statistics by themselves can be very misleading. If the numbers or results are important, it's always prudent to dig down to learn about the info and studies on which the statistics are based.

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Don't be a party pooper, Ben. Those coffee addicts among us need to have some justification for our addiction. You can take my wine, my Jack Daniel's, and even my cigarettes, but hands off my coffee.

MM

I know a lot of runners drink coffee before runs becuause it has been shown to improve performance. I'd have to dig up my RunnersWorld article to find out exactly what the specifics were. It can't be all bad!

I sure hope coffee is good for ya.

I drink it every morning.

Right now all the marketing for coffee is aimed at how high in antioxidants coffee is. There is even a new brand of coffee out which has "50% green coffee beans" (funny, I thought coffee beans were red) which is supposed to be higher in antioxidants than green tea.

I've heard that coffee can stimulate bowel motions, which may come in handy if you're a bit blocked up in the nether regions. I wouldn't rely on it alone, though - maybe in conjunction with the tried-and-true prunes or lemon juice in warm water. I think it's pretty much proven as a diuretic.

Anyways, I guess what I'm trying to say is moderation is the key to most things, and that would include coffee.

Another thought on the OP - maybe coffee drinkers live longer because when they "meet for coffee", they talk more about problems and stresses in their lives, which helps to "get it off their chest", therefore reducing all the horrible things that stress tends to do to our bodies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_trade

At work, I tend to drink coffee on breaks because I'm bored, and while I'm working because I'm bored and exasperated and flustered. It levels me out, but it can't be good in the long run. (I do NOT take sugar, but I do like generous milk.)
But I go home and go out for a run, so I don't have that weird insomnia like I used to have.