Health Benefits Associated with Coffee Consumption...
Not sure why some people continue to perpetuate the false notion that coffee drinking is somehow "bad" for you or that caffeine should be cut out of a "healthy" diet. I feel the need to clear this up...
Science has long shown just the opposite. Please click on the link below to read the fairly thorough review of literature posted on WebMD.com.
Note: This review article is not one "health expert's" opinion or a ploy to sell more coffee published by the "coffee growers association", it is a review of several significant large cohort studies that have been performed over a period of several years.
I don't think anything in it is necessarily bad, but it's sad seeing people who are actually addicted to it. I don't drink coffee - ever, I'm caffiene sensitive, so when I see people who absolutely cannot live without their morning coffee it's kind of silly.
You shouldn't "NEED" anything to start your day, besides some sunshine and something to eat
I do need coffee to start my day - both physiologically and psychologically. I love the taste, smell, and warmth of it. It's a moment of bliss before I face the stress of the day. I also need the caffeine. I will get a bad headache later in the day without it and feel groggy until it gets on board. But I don't have many other vices, so I'm OK with this one.
no offense, but you honestly shouldn't "need" anything to start your day
How 'bout food? I used to never eat breakfast in the morning, now I know I have a lot more energy if I have something to eat as soon as I wake up. If you're used to having a cup of coffee when you get up, you're used to having a cup of coffee when you get up. We're all creatures of habit, and our bodies adjust accordingly. Nothin' wrong with that.
Original Post by jennike:
no offense, but you honestly shouldn't "need" anything to start your day
Ok in defense of my other fellow coffee drinker (yes I said fellow coffee drinker) I personally am addicted to coffee as well...there I said it...but I qualify my addiction to other BAD addictions that I DONT HAVE...e.g., I dont drink alcohol, or smoke, and have never ever taken illegal drugs of any kind at any point in my life 
. Sooo if they make a Coffee Anonymous club I will sign up - I didnt say I would give up my coffee but would be glad to entertain the meeting - guess I better get back to work (sips coffee). 
Dave
I always said that I didn't want to be as addicted to caffeine as my dad, who needs 4 cups in the morning before he can function, interact, etc. So I feel pretty good that I can get up, and even go for a run, and then drink my one cup of coffee!
Yes, I need it in the morning, or I won't be as alert and I'll probably have a light headache. But more importantly, like Laura42, the ritual of making my coffee, and the mixture of milk and the rich flavor of the beans, is something that gives me an enormous amount of pleasure. It's the thing I do each morning for myself, treating myself to something I really love, starting my day off on that note of caring for my body. :-)
Plus, the health benefits of coffee (in moderation!) have been demonstrated in lots of studies, so I feel good about that too!
I find just one or two cups of coffee in the morning helps me concentrate and lifts my mood. The way I see it, if something improves your quality of life and doesn't harm you, what does it matter whether you 'need' it or not?
I can't drink it in the evening though, or I stay awake half the night!
I enjoy 2 cups of coffee (black) in the mornings at work. Actually, I make coffee for my colleagues too. I get to work at 6 a.m. and make awesome (french press) coffee for the entire department. I limit myself to a couple cups though...otherwise I'm impossible to STOP!! Bwahahaha!!
laura42, Thank you my friend in wine and coffee!!...
To the posters who say you shouldn't "need" anything in the morning...Again, if you read the studies... There is lots of evidence to show that drinking coffee (in significant amounts) is a good thing for you. The studies are not showing that it is a neutral effect. So, in this case I guess it is good to "need" something...if that something is coffee!
We have this little organic coffee shop here in Birmingham, AL that fresh roasts the beans (one serving at a time when you order it), grinds and french presses every cup individually! It is amazing!
Original Post by gddrdld:
laura42, Thank you my friend in wine and coffee!!...
And lets not forget dark chocolate. Right now I systematically going through all the flavors by Green & Black. Cherry, and Maya Gold are the favorites so far.
Green and Black? I have not heard of this, but I am looking it up right now! Thx.
Original Post by modifiedme:
How 'bout food? I used to never eat breakfast in the morning, now I know I have a lot more energy if I have something to eat as soon as I wake up. If you're used to having a cup of coffee when you get up, you're used to having a cup of coffee when you get up. We're all creatures of habit, and our bodies adjust accordingly. Nothin' wrong with that.
lol @ comparing food with a caffiene addiction.
of course you get headaches when you don't get your coffee, so do cocaine users.
minddriver, Are you kidding??? How could you possibly laugh at someone comparing a cup of morning coffee to food and then turn right around and compare caffeine to cocaine??
If you would get a grip and take some time to actually read some real research you will see that there are many health benefits associated with caffeine use. There is no documented research, however, outlining the benefits of cocaine use...
You are comparing apples and oranges. Just because someone might get a headache when they don't have caffeine doesn't mean that it is bad for them to have it. It is just their body telling them that they are missing something that they have become accustomed to. Trust me, your thinking is very much backwards on this topic...
To be quite honest...minddriver isn't that far off. There have been studies done on the effects of caffeine AND cocaine on the brain. Human brains react quite similarly under the effects of both.
I'm not calling out caffeine as a dangerous (illegal) drug, I'm just saying that it can be/is just as addictive and has been proven to be a adenosine blocker, much like cocaine.
*jumps off soapbox and runs for a cup of java*
MJ
mj, Sorry but this is way off. The only thing caffeine and cocaine have in common is they are both central nervous system stimulants. That's where the similarities end. The addictive factors of the 2 are nowhere near equal. You don't see people going into rehab for caffeine addiction...
Just because "all apples are red" and "this item" is red, doesn't mean that "this item" is an apple...
Original Post by minddriver:
Original Post by modifiedme:
How 'bout food? I used to never eat breakfast in the morning, now I know I have a lot more energy if I have something to eat as soon as I wake up. If you're used to having a cup of coffee when you get up, you're used to having a cup of coffee when you get up. We're all creatures of habit, and our bodies adjust accordingly. Nothin' wrong with that.
lol @ comparing food with a caffiene addiction.
of course you get headaches when you don't get your coffee, so do cocaine users.
Cocaine users get headaches when they don't get their coffee?
You shouldn't "NEED" anything to start your day, besides some sunshine and something to eat
Only plants and people with SAD need sunshine to start their day.
I need coffee or the absence of holier-than-thou type-A asceticists to properly function in the morning. Without either I tend to get a little irritable.
Original Post by trhawley:
Original Post by minddriver:
Original Post by modifiedme:
How 'bout food? I used to never eat breakfast in the morning, now I know I have a lot more energy if I have something to eat as soon as I wake up. If you're used to having a cup of coffee when you get up, you're used to having a cup of coffee when you get up. We're all creatures of habit, and our bodies adjust accordingly. Nothin' wrong with that.
lol @ comparing food with a caffiene addiction.
of course you get headaches when you don't get your coffee, so do cocaine users.
Cocaine users get headaches when they don't get their coffee?
tr, Ha! I just got that...gramar/sentence structure. Funny!
coruroyfire, Thanks! Me too!
Original Post by gddrdld:
mj, Sorry but this is way off. The only thing caffeine and cocaine have in common is they are both central nervous system stimulants. That's where the similarities end. The addictive factors of the 2 are nowhere near equal. You don't see people going into rehab for caffeine addiction...
Just because "all apples are red" and "this item" is red, doesn't mean that "this item" is an apple...
As a matter of fact the adenosine that I spoke of really has nothing to do with "addiction". It is, as you stated the "stimulant".
...light reading...
Scientists are fairly confident, however, that caffeine's most famous effect—that of excitation and heightened awareness—is understood.
In Buzz: The Science and Lore of Alcohol and Caffeine, Stephen Braun explains: "The brain...resembles a car with several brake pedals and several accelerators. Interfere with any one of these pedals, and you'll affect the speed and action of the car."
One of the brake pedals to which Braun refers comes in the form of a molecule called adenosine, which is one of the key players in sleep and wakefulness and, consequently, in the way caffeine affects the brain. Adenosine, which is found in most areas of the body, is a by-product of any working cell; the harder the cell works, the more adenosine is produced. After the brain is fully active, adenosine then works to gradually quiet the brain back down. In a 1994 Science article, Harvard Medical School's Robert Greene explained how the accumulation of adenosine triggers a brake on adenosine production. Adenosine, then, is an important link in a cyclical and self-governing chain affecting sleep and wakefulness.
Caffeine enters the picture in that its structure is nearly identical to adenosine's. In fact, the caffeine molecule is slightly smaller than adenosine, so when it comes in contact with adenosine-receptors on neurons, it binds more readily than even adenosine. Although the fit is snug, it is not perfect. Thus caffeine does not initiate the chain reaction in the cell that adenosine does; it just fills the space so that adenosine can't do its job of quieting the brain.
Caffeine's stimulant reaction, then, is not as we might imagine. Coffee is not some energy form that excites our nervous system; it simply thwarts one of the main processes by which the nervous system is generally kept calm.
(edited to remove the addictive factors, et al.
Original Post by gddrdld:
mj, Sorry but this is way off.
Yeah I'm not sure what he's talking about either. Cocaine is not an adenosine blocker, for one. And studies have been done on many chemicals, natural and synthetic, that have various effects in the brain. This implies nothing about their relative addictive qualities.
and lol, trhawley.
