Health

Increased Coffee Consumption is Actually Good For Something

February 20th 2015

According to a new government-funded study, increased coffee intake not only has no long-term negative side effects, but it is also associated with a reduced risk for heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. So keep on chugging that venti drip, Tad in Accounting: your 5th cup o' Joe is A-OK in our government's proverbial health and wellness book.

Now, before you go telling your friends that java fixation is actually a miracle cure-all that holds within its sweet, sweet nectar some mystical properties, note what Tom Brenna, a member of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee that conducted the study (and Cornell University nutritionist) said about its findings: "I don’t want to get into implying coffee cures cancer -- nobody thinks that, but there is no evidence for increased risk, if anything, the other way around.” So no, it's not a cure-all — particularly if you add heaps of sugar to your go-go juice: in fact the panel has recommended the government impose taxes sugary beverages and snacks in addition to requiring that added sugars in processed foods make up no more than 10 percent of our caloric intake — a 3 percent decrease from our current national consumption average in the states.

So over all, it's good news for those of us out there who, say, worry that our permanent attachment to our to-go cups could potentially spell trouble for our hearts and blood pressure. But it's best to keep in mind: the study does conflict with 2013 findings from the Mayo Clinic that claimed 4-cups or more a day for people under 55 made them 56% more likely to die. Still, the Mayo study concluded their number was an all-around figure (meaning not any one particular cause of death had a relation) ...so maybe it just means jittery, caffeinated people are more like to — as the old saying goes — do stupid things faster with more energy? Something to think about.

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