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Coffee's numerous antioxidant and protective benefits - research

Coffee, an infusion of ground and roasted coffee beans, is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world. Although the negative effects of caffeine have received the most attention from health writers, coffee is a complex mixture of chemicals, many of which are beneficial to our health

A ground and brewed cup of coffee is a rich source of antioxidants and other healthy compounds. This is good news for the 80% of Americans who drink coffee - downing an average of 3.2 cups per day. About 54% of adults in the USA drink coffee every day. In countries such as Germany, Austria, and Finland adults drink twice as much as those in the United States

Populations consuming a modern diet of refined and processed foods suffer obesity, heart disease and a host of other degenerative diseases. Is a high level of coffee consumption contributing to the problem? The answer is that in excess it does. But I'm glad to say that regular and moderate coffee consumption is a good protection against many of these diseases

One of the best ways to protect yourself from degenerative diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer is to eat a diet rich in antioxidants. But many of us do not eat enough fresh vegetables and fruit - the best source of antioxidants. Guess where many people are getting their antioxidants instead? Coffee, several studies say (2,3,4,15,17). In fact, coffee is the top dietary source of antioxidants in many populations, including that in the USA

This is in addition to studies discussed in Grow Youthful that show that regular drinkers of tea and coffee have substantially lower 'all causes' death rates than non-drinkers. One of these studies (19) showed that the lower mortality of coffee drinkers included heart disease

Coffee is a rich source of amino acids, vitamins, minerals, alkaloids and phenolic compounds. It also contains a range of antioxidants, caffeine and other yet-to-be researched compounds. It seems that coffee has several health benefits, although most of the research is in the early stages

Roasted coffee residues retain their antioxidant ability; it isn't lost in processing

If you don't already drink coffee, the news about antioxidants is probably not a good enough reason to start the habit. And if you already drink it, it's no excuse to stop eating fruits and veggies

Your best bet is to eat your fruits and veggies, and limit yourself to one or at the most two small cups of coffee per day. That way you will consume no more than 250 milligrams of caffeine per day, the limit recommended by most of these studies

Studies show that:

• Habitual drinking of coffee is beneficial for the heart and arteries, compared to occasional drinking (8,17). Importantly, the habitual drinking must be moderate! High coffee consumption is a cause of cardiovascular disease (9)
• habitual coffee consumption gives you a lower risk of type 2 diabetes (10)
• men may experience up to a 40% reduction in risk of Parkinson's disease by drinking as little as one cup per day (11,13,14,16). However, the effects were not observed in postmenopausal women who take estrogen replacement. In this case, coffee drinking may actually increase Parkinson's risk
• adults who drank one or more cups of coffee a day were half as likely to develop cancer of the mouth, pharynx, and esophagus compared with people who didn't drink coffee (1)
• reduce your rate of insulin secretion (6)
• decrease your risk of (12) shows decreased risk of liver cancer (12). Drinking coffee may be especially helpful reducing the risk of liver cancer caused by cirrhosis, a type of liver disease that causes scarring of the liver
• women who drank 2-3 cups a day were 19 percent less likely to have a stroke compared with women who drank less than one cup a month. However, this benefit only applied to non-smoking women with no history of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes
• middle-aged adults who reported drinking at least 3 cups of coffee a day were 65 percent less likely to have developed dementia or Alzheimer's by the time most of the group had reached their mid-sixties to seventies

Coffee and your liver (especially if you drink alcohol)

A study (18) shows that those who regularly drink coffee have healthier livers

Your liver is your major blood-cleansing organ in your body, removing all sorts of toxins including alcohol. It stores energy, fat-soluble vitamins, and other nutrients. It helps construct proteins, bile, and other essentials. You need a healthy liver for a long life

Scientists measured the level of certain enzymes that show liver damage, and discovered that regular coffee drinkers have substantially lower levels of these enzymes. Ground and roasted coffee is a rich source of antioxidants, and seems to have other beneficial compounds

Coffee's protective effect was most pronounced in those who are moderate to heavy drinkers of alcohol

Note that alcohol can be particularly damaging to the liver, and coffee can NOT make up for the damage that long-term heavy alcohol consumption does to the liver

Warnings

Coffee is high in Caffeine, an addictive, dehydrating, diuretic drug that upsets your blood glucose level, your insulin levels, your digestion, and several other body processes. Do not expect good health and a long life if you are drinking high levels of caffeine - also added to soft drinks (because it is addictive), and found in black tea

As usual, how much coffee to drink comes back to this golden rule called MODERATION. One small cup of brewed, high quality coffee in the morning is more than enough for me. If you are drinking more than one cup per day, you may be drinking too much. A good test is to stop drinking coffee for a few days. If you find this difficult to do, and get a headache or a drop in your energy level, then you are addicted and it is already negatively affecting your health

Avoid coffee, black tea, and other sources of caffeine if you suffer from:

• metabolic syndrome (fatigue, depression, anxiety, inflammation, tendency to overweight - see chapter in Grow Youthful)
• insomnia or a nervous and sensitive disposition
• high blood pressure
• arrhythmia or rapid heartbeat. Although moderate coffee consumption lowers your risk of cardiovascular disease, research shows that chronic consumption may increase aortic stiffness

A Greek study (5) shows that high coffee consumption leads to inflammation. Another study (7) showed that regular caffeine consumption increases blood pressure, however if the caffeine comes from coffee, the effect is much smaller than otherwise. This again confirms that there are as yet unknown protective ingredients in coffee

Tea

Tea, as discussed in Grow Youthful and on other pages in www.growyouthful.com, is a brew with multiple health benefits. Tea's main protectors are antioxidant flavonoids. It contains less caffeine than coffee. Green tea can contain anywhere from 9 to 50 milligrams per cup while black tea typically contains between 42 to 72 milligrams

The well-established benefits of tea include:

• decreased risk of LDL cholesterol oxidation and improved blood fats, leading to a decreased risk of heart attack and stroke
• decreased risk of Parkinson's disease
• decreased risk of Alzheimer's disease

(1) Coffee Consumption and the Risk of Oral, Pharyngeal, and Esophageal Cancers in Japan: The Miyagi Cohort Study. Toru Naganuma; Shinichi Kuriyama; Masako Kakizaki; Toshimasa Sone; Naoki Nakaya; Kaori Ohmori-Matsuda; Yoshikazu Nishino; Akira Fukao; Ichiro Tsuji. American Journal of Epidemiology 2008 Vol 168 no. 11

(2) Antioxidant properties of roasted coffee residues.Yen, W. J., Wang, B. S., Chang, L. W., Duh, P. D., Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2005 Apr 6;53(7):2658-2663

(3) Is coffee a functional food?Dorea, J. G., da Costa, T. H., British Journal of Nutrition 2005 Jun;93(6):773-782

(4) Unraveling the contribution of melanoidins to the antioxidant activity of coffee brews.Delgado-Andrade, C., Morales, F. J., Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2005 Mar 9;53(5):1403-1407

(5) Associations between coffee consumption and inflammatory markers in healthy persons: the ATTICA study.Zampelas, A., Panagiotakos, D. B., Pitsavos, C., Chrysohoou, C., Stefanadis, C., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2004 Oct;80(4):862-867

(6) Caffeinated coffee, decaffeinated coffee, and caffeine in relation to plasma C-peptide levels, a marker of insulin secretion, in U.S. women.Wu, T., Willett, W. C., Hankinson, S. E., Giovannucci, E., Diabetes Care 2005 Jun;28(6):1390-1396

(7) Blood pressure response to chronic intake of coffee and caffeine: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Noordzij, M., Uiterwaal, C. S., Arends, L. R., Kok, F. J., Grobbee, D. E., Geleijnse, J. M., Journal of Hypertension 2005 May;23(5):921-928

(8) Cardiovascular effects of coffee: is it a risk factor? Sudano, I., Binggeli, C., Spieker, L., Luscher, T. F., Ruschitzka, F., Noll, G., Corti, R., Progress in Cardiovascular Nursing 2005 Spring;20(2):65-69

(9) Chronic coffee consumption has a detrimental effect on aortic stiffness and wave reflections.Vlachopoulos, C., Panagiotakos, D., Ioakeimidis, N., Dima, I., Stefanadis, C., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2005 Jun;81(6):1307-1312

(10) Coffee consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review.Van Dam, R. M., Hu, F. B., Journal of the American Medical Association 2005 Jul 6;294(1):97-104

(11) Coffee consumption, gender, and Parkinson's disease mortality in the cancer prevention study II cohort: the modifying effects of estrogen.Ascherio, A., Weisskopf, M. G., O'Reilly, E. J., McCullough, M. L., Calle, E. E., Rodriguez, C., Thun, M. J., American Journal of Epidemiology 2004 Nov 15;160(10):977-984

(12) Coffee consumption reduces the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma independently of its aetiology: a case-control study. Gelatti, U., Covolo, L., Franceschini, M., Pirali, F., Tagger, A., Ribero, M. L., Trevisi, P., Martelli, C., Nardi, G., Donato, F.; Brescia, HCC Study Group, Journal of Hepatology 2005 Apr;42(4):528-534

(13) Dose-dependent protective effect of coffee, tea, and smoking in Parkinson's disease: a study in ethnic Chinese.Tan, E. K., Tan, C., Fook-Chong, S. M., Lum, S. Y., Chai, A., Chung, H., Shen, H., Zhao, Y., Teoh, M. L., Yih, Y., Pavanni, R., Chandran, V. R., Wong, M. C., Journal of Neurological Sciences 2003 Dec 15;216(1):163-167

(14) Human monoamine oxidase enzyme inhibition by coffee and beta-carbolines norharman and harman isolated from coffee.Herraiz, T., Chaparro, C., Life Sciences 2005 Aug 30

(15) Intakes of antioxidants in coffee, wine, and vegetables are correlated with plasma carotenoids in humans.Svilaas, A., Sakhi, A. K., Andersen, L. F., Svilaas, T., Strom, E. C., Jacobs, D. R. Jr., Ose, L., Blomhoff, R., Journal of Nutrition 2004 Mar;134(3):562-567

(16) Parkinson's disease risks associated with cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and caffeine intake.Checkoway, H., Powers, K., Smith-Weller, T., Franklin, G. M., Longstreth, W. T. Jr., Swanson, P. D., American Journal of Epidemiology, 2002 Apr 15;155(8):732-738

(17) Role of antioxidants in atherosclerosis: epidemiological and clinical update. Cherubini, A., Vigna, G. B., Zuliani, G., Ruggiero, C., Senin, U., Fellin, R., Current Pharmaceutical Design 2005;11(16):2017-2032

(18) Coffee, cirrhosis, and transaminase enzymes. Klatsky, A. L., Morton, C., Udaltsova, N., Friedman, G. D., Archives of Internal Medicine 2006 Jun 12;166(11):1190-1195

(19) The relationship of coffee consumption with mortality. Lopez-Garcia, E. et al., Annals of Internal Medicine 2008 Jun 17;148(12):904-914

Coffee. Higdon, J., The Linus Pauling Institute: Micronutrient Information Center, updated August 16, 2005

Tea. Higdon, J., The Linus Pauling Institute: Micronutrient Information Center, updated January 7, 2005

Effect of tea catechins on postprandial plasma lipid responses in human subjects. Unno, T., Tago, M., Suzuki, Y., Nozawa, A., Sagesaka, Y. M., Kakuda, T., Egawa, K., Kondo, K. British Journal of Nutrition 2005 Apr;93(4):543-547

Green tea and the risk of colorectal cancer: pooled analysis of two prospective studies in Japan. Suzuki, Y., Tsubono, Y., Nakaya, N., Koizumi, Y., Suzuki, Y., Shibuya, D., Tsuji, I. Journal of Epidemiology 2005 Jul;15(4):118-124

Green tea epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) modulates amyloid precursor protein cleavage and reduces cerebral amyloidosis in Alzheimer transgenic mice. Rezai-Zadeh, K., Shytle, D., Sun, N., Mori, T., Hou, H., Jeanniton, D., Ehrhart, J., Townsend, K., Zeng, J., Morgan, D., Hardy, J., Town, T., Tan, J. Journal of Neuroscience 2005 Sep 21;25(38):8807-8814