Coffee is a mysterious potion; people drink it for different reasons. Some sip morning coffee for pep and some drink it for poop because of its stimulant effect. Some people think coffee helps them to lose weight. Alexander Pope, the eighteenth century bard in his mock epic ‘Rape of the Lock’ gives credit to politicians’ wisdom to a hot cup of coffee.
“Coffee which makes the politician wise, and see all things with half-shut eyes.”
But, can sipping a hot cup of coffee everyday be secret to your long life. May be true if you believe in a study carried out at the University of Athens. The study found out that drinking a cup of coffee daily improves elasticity of arteries, which can stave off heart disease. A cup of coffee everyday could give you more than a healthful bout of energy. Thus sipping coffee helps people live longer by warding off heart disease. In fact researchers have based their findings on an analysis of 485 people suffering from high Blood Pressure. The subjects of study were all aged between 65 and 100. They were all inhabitants of Greek island Ikaria, known as a ‘land of longevity’. The subjects’ arteries were assessed for elasticity. It was found that 56 percentage who were moderate coffee drinkers consuming between one and two cups a day, had best arterial health. Their arteries were more elastic than those measured in people who drank no coffee.
It may not be appropriate to conclude on the basis of findings of research based on the inhabitants of a small island; a study covering wider spectrum comprising of different territories and nationalities etc will be more authentic and acceptable.
In fact coffee is diuretics; it also flushes out nutrients from our system. Caffeine dehydrates and we need extra water to keep going. Caffeine also inhibits an enzyme that is known to regulate mucosal secretions in small intestine, secretions go up and so fluid in bowl also goes up and if amount of fluid in the colon is more than amount of fluid we can absorb we get diarrhoea or at least loose stools.
Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev says tea and coffee are intoxication and nothing else. How good or bad it is to drink coffee is better left to the experience of its drinker.
