Keep Drinking Your Coffee, It's Good For You

We've been told to limit our consumption of coffee.  It's not good for us.  New studies say that coffee may be better for you than you ever thought.  First, coffee may make you smarter.  Caffeine potently blocks an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, leading to a net stimulant effect.  Controlled trials show that caffeine improves both mood and brain function.

Coffee can help you burn fat and improve physical performance.  Partly because of its stimulant effect, caffeine raises metabolism and increases the oxidation of fatty acids.  Caffeine can also improve athletic performance by several mechanisms, including by mobilizing fatty acids from the fat tissues.

Caffeine may lower your risk of type 2 diabetes.  In observational studies, coffee has been repeatedly associated with a lower risk of diabetes.  Eighteen studies with a total of 457,922 participants show that each additional cup of coffee per day lowered the risk of diabetes by 7%.

Coffee may lower your risk of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.  In prospective studies, coffee drinkers have up to a 60%lower risk of Alzheimer's and dementia.  Coffee may also be good for your liver.  Multiple studies have shown that coffee can lower the risk of cirrhosis by as much as 80, the strongest effect for those who drank four or more cups per day.

Finally, coffee is loaded with nutrients and antioxidants.  It contains 6% of the RDA for Vitamin B5, 11%of the RDA for Vitamin B2, 2% of the RDA for B3 and B1, and 3% of the RDA for manganese and potassium.  So drink up, coffee is good for you.