Debunking the Bunk - Coffee

So the common wisdom about coffee seems to be that it's bad for you. Especially if you drink it in large quantities (I've heard tales of people drinking 8 pots a day, or of a girl working in a coffee shop who was admitted to the hospital for heart palpitations after drinking 10 espressos or so).

So not the best idea to drink 10 shots of espresso in a short time. Moderation is key.

But now, the common wisdom about coffee seems to be shifting (at least among scientists who've studied coffee's effect). Coffee's bad reputation seems to be more image than substance. In the past, coffee has been linked to anything from breast cancer to pancreatic cancer to heart disease. One hypothesis for the supposed bad effect of coffee (from this book) is that coffee often went hand in hand with cigarette smoking, and that it was the smoking that truly caused the health problems.

So now we're supposed to just on the coffee bandwagon? What's the deal?

A study cited in Science Daily says that women who drink 2-3 cups of caffeinated coffee a day decrease their chance of death from heart disease by 25%, and decrease their chance of death by cancer or heart disease by 18%. People drinking decaf coffee also had a lower rate of death than those not drinking coffee. Men had neither a higher nor lower risk associated with coffee.

Another study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (mentioned in this Senior Health article) says that regular coffee drinking of up to 6 cups a day has no negative effect for either men or women.

The Bad Stuff

1. Caffeine can have negative effects ranging from an increase in anxiety, withdrawal headaches, irritability, shakiness, and insomnia.

2. Drinking espresso, French press, or other coffee that doesn't drip through a paper filter can increase your cholesterol by a few points.

3. Drinking a lot of coffee may increase your risk for developing osteoporosis or breaking a bone.

4. Not so yummy flavors, such as blueberry (I swear, one day at work when someone was brewing blueberry coffee, I had no idea what the smell was and I really honestly though that someone had forgotten to take out the trash).

5. If you already have heart disease? No dice. Coffee can increase your risk of heart attack or stroke.

The Good Stuff

1. Lower chance of developing kidney stones, gallstones, Parkinson's, colon cancer, or type 2 diabetes.

2. Less chance that you'll voluntarily depart this earthly coil - coffee (and other caffeinated beverages) often act like mild anti-depressants. Two studies showed that suicides are as much as 50% lower among coffee drinkers.

3. Lower rates of heart disease for women.

4. Yummy flavors such as hazelnut, mocha, pumpkin.

5. Coffee may be one of our highest sources of antioxidants, but whether that's because we drink a boatload of coffee, or that we don't eat enough other antioxidant food isn't specified. Coffee came out ahead of tea, chocolate or fruit on the antioxidant-o-meter. The next highest sources of antioxidants were black tea, bananas, dried beans (do people eat dried beans and do they have the same antioxidant level well cooked?), corn, red wine, lager beer (go flip cup!), apples, tomatoes, and potatoes.

However, the docs don't recommend adding coffee to your diet for health reasons. Because while coffee does have a lot of antioxidants, the other healthy food antioxidant sources (such as fruit and veggies) offer more in terms of total nutrition. And if you're like me and have to add a good deal of milk and sugar to coffee to make it palatable, well that pretty much negates the health benefit, right? Now I want some decaf anyway...

More crap is better

Unfortunately, "crap" in this sense doesn't mean all those tasty wonderful foods like cake, french fries, greasy pizza, fried snickers bars, cheesecake, potato chip sandwiches on white bread. I mean it in a more literal sense.

Today's post is about fiber. Thing is, all those handy dandy little health listings on the side of your food containers will list fat, calories, protein, salt, and so on. But usually no fiber. We see commercials on tv (for Total for example), where we learned that fiber is good for us. But do any of us ever really talk about it? Apart from keeping us regular, is it really important?

Up until recently, I honestly thought it was really just a digestive tract thing. But it turns out that fiber has so many more health benefits than I ever realized!

- Fiber can help keep weight under control. Because they tend to have more bulk than other kinds of foods, if eaten in sufficient quantity and at the right time of day, they can help to stave off hunger for a longer period than other food choices.
- A Massachusetts General study showed that higher fiber consumption lowered the risk of stroke.
- While scientific results remain inconclusive, many people advocate that fiber helps prevent against colon cancer. My philosophy on this? Ok, so many it's not going to reduce my risk that much. But it's not bad for me, and it's got other benefits. So might's well, right?
- Fiber may lower the risk of other diseases (breast cancer, ovarian cancer, diverticulitis, diabetes, gallstones and kidney stones, heart disease)

So what is fiber exactly? And what does it do?

Insoluble fiber - whole grains and the outsides of seeds, fruits and legumes. These swell up like a sponge, absorbing many times its weight in water. This can help eliminate digestive disorders.

Soluble fiber - fruits, vegetables, seeds, brown rice, barley, oats, and oat bran. This one works chemically to prevent or reduce the absorption of various substances into the bloodstream. Helps lowers LDL (bad cholesterol) and regulates blood sugar.

Where do I find this fiber stuff? Try this list. The highest foods on there? Bran cereal, cooked beans (lentils, kidney beans, lima beans), dry rolled oats, avocados, raspberries.