Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world. Different cultures see it as a necessary beverage for their everyday life. Though coffee was first used as a drink and cultivated in Northern Africa, from there it has spread to different parts of the world where it has been accepted and assimilated by different countries
. This means that there are so many different types of coffee that is currently available.
Benefits of Drinking Coffee: It is easy to get hooked on coffee. After all there are some varieties that really taste well. Once you have tried the finer varieties you would never want to step down again on the level and the quality of the coffee that you are using. But coffee is not all about the taste. There are some benefits to it as well. There are some good things that you can get out of drinking coffee.
First of all coffee is one of the most effective stimulants known today. This is of course caused by the high caffeine content. That is why coffee is the go to drink of many professionals who need extended hours of concentration. Caffeine is effective because it reduces the physical fatigue and helps keep an individual to be wakeful. This is one of the primary reasons why coffee is consumed. In fact caffeine is the most used psychoactive drug in the world today, which it owes to the fact that it is legal.
Other Benefits of Coffee- Aside from the stimulant effects of coffee, there are some other benefits that can be had from drinking coffee. For example it has been shown that coffee can help in opening up the air passage. That makes it valuable and beneficial from those suffering from asthma and bronchitis. It can also be used for treating headaches and even migraine. That’s because aside from being a stimulant, caffeine can also be used as an analgesic that can relieve pain. Just try it the next time that you have a splitting headache, drink up a cup of espresso and you are sure to feel some relief.
Scientific studies have also shown that coffee can help in treating Type 2 diabetes. This effect is caused by a substance found in coffee, the Chlorgoenic acid. This is the substance that fights the onset of diabetes. There are other health benefits that can be had from drinking coffee like it helps to protect the liver from damage because of too much alcohol. This is a very important benefit since the number of those who are suffering from liver cirrhosis is on the rise. A study conducted in John Hopkins University has discovered that drinking coffee can make you happier in a chemical sense. Coffee increases the amount of dopamine in the bloodstream which influences us to become more cheerful. It should be remembered however that too much coffee can cause anxiety problems which is never good.
The Great Controversy- The biggest question right now about the possible effects of coffee has caused a great controversy. The controversy is about whether drinking coffee can cause cancer or not. Both sides are citing scientific findings to support their claims, so if you take a look at it, it seems they are tied. I’ve met a couple of individuals who were once great coffee drinkers, who have given up the beverage altogether. They did so because they were sold to the idea that coffee is a carcinogen. They even tried to win me over.
Coffee Does Not Cause Cancer- The coffee lovers claim that coffee can actually prevent some forms of cancer. They cite a study conducted in Harvard Medical School showing that drinking coffee can prevent the development of breast, prostate, and colon cancer. The study concluded that it is the high anti-oxidant content of coffee that causes this.
There are other independent scientific studies that have come up with the same results. Caffeine and therefore coffee does not cause cancer. In fact there are no scientific findings to support the idea of caffeine as a carcinogen that the American Cancer Society has stated it so.
Coffee Causes Cancer- On the other side of the fence are those who claim that coffee is a cause for the development of cancer cells in the body. As an authority to back up their claims they are citing the classification done by the World Health Organization regarding possible and known causes of cancer. Last year the organization placed caffeine on the 2B category of possible carcinogens. Before you decide to quite drinking coffee altogether because of this finding you have to look further into the system of classification that they used. They placed coffee in the same category as using cell phones and eating pickled vegetables.
The Classification- Don’t go panicking just yet about the amount of coffee that you have been drinking. Before you start worrying that you might develop cancer already because of all the caffeine that you have consumed, you have to realize first that this level of classification where they placed caffeine is quite low. There are actually two categories above it.
The first group of substances is those that are known without any doubt to cause cancer. This is where things like smoking and exposure to the Ultra Violet rays from the sun belong. The second group which was designated as 2A is made up of those things that are probably carcinogens. They include stuff like inhalation of fumes from combustion, disruption of the circadian rhythm and other activities that alter the natural functions of the body.
If the 2A group are the probable carcinogens then what about the 2B or the group to which coffee drinking belong? Least likely carcinogens? Personally I feel that this classification is no help at all. You get the organization is just trying to cover its bases. They are trying to be safe. Instead of saying just outright that they don’t see any connection between caffeine and cancer, they are placing it on the some category that’s neither this nor that.
So What Now? – So what’s really the deal with coffee and cancer? Is it a carcinogen? Based on all the findings and the claims of both sides I tend to agree with the viewpoint that coffee is not a cause of cancer and that in fact it can prevent it. The classification made by the World Health Organization which is the main source of authority by those who say that coffee causes cancer is really not conclusive. It’s like saying that there is a possibility but it isn’t proven yet or there’s even no sign of it yet.
Do We Go on Drinking Coffee?- With all the controversy being raised about coffee drinking is it worth going through with enjoying this beverage? There are those who get the idea that it might just be better to quit it and enjoy some other drink. Personally I don’t really see any risk at all. Based on the classification that the World health organization has used almost anything can be a cause of cancer. If we pay attention to what they say and stay way from everything that is “probably” cancerous, then we might be better off to just stay in a monastery.