National Coffee Day: 7 Benefits of Drinking Coffee - Dispatch Weekly

National Coffee Day is 29 September each year, which is another excuse for coffee lovers to indulge in their favorite beverage.

For expert coffee tasters, a perfect cup of coffee contains four elements: aroma, acidity, body and flavor.

It is also a day people take to social media to post a perfect filtered coffee with the hash tag, #nationalcoffeeday. So far Instagram has 313,968 posts.

But for those who consume coffee, what exactly are the benefits to drinking coffee?

#1 Protective Against Type 2 Diabetes

Researchers at UCLA found that drinking coffee increases plasma levels of the protein sex hormone-binding blobulin (SHBG), which controls the biological activity of the body’s sex hormones. Testosterone and estrogen plays a role in developing diabetes.

Another study by the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers found that participants in a study who increased their coffee intake by more than one cup a day (on average, an increase of 1.69 cups per day) over a 4-year period had an 11 percent lower type 2 diabetes risk over the subsequent 4 years, compared people who did not change intake.

#2 Coffee and Heart Health

Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center (BIDMC) and Harvard School of Public Health found that drinking coffee in moderation protects against heart failure.

The authors said drinking coffee showed “a possible benefit, but like with so many other things we consume, it really depends on how much coffee you drink.”

#3 Protection Against Colorectal Cancer

Researchers from the US learned that drinking coffee every day-even decaffeinated coffee could lower the risk of colorectal cancer.

#4 Men and Cardiovascular Protection

A Japanese study concluded that more than 76,000 participants, men who consumed 1-2 cups of coffee per day reduced the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease by as much as 38 percent.

#5 Americans Get More Antioxidants from Coffee

A 2005 study by University of Scranton, 2005 found that coffee not only stimulated Americans but one of the major sources of antioxidants in the US diet.

Study leader Joe Vinson, Ph.D, a chemistry professor said, “Americans get more of their antioxidants from coffee than any other dietary source. Nothing else comes close.”

This is because coffee is the primary source from which most Americans get their antioxidants, although fruits and vegetables promoted the same benefits.

#6 Coffee Makes You Happy

A study by the American Academy of Neurology in 2013 discovered that frequent consumption of diet-sweetened beverages may increase depression risk among older adults, whereas coffee consumption may lower the risk.

#7 Coffee is a Stimulant that Improves Energy

Coffee is a stimulant containing caffeine, which when absorbed into your bloodstream, goes to the brain. The amount of other neurotransmitters increases, leading to enhanced firing of neurons.

Basic and Clinical pharmacology and Toxicology BCPT states, “Thus, caffeine has a number of central effects directly or indirectly related to adenosine receptors. Some of these are potentially useful.”