What can coffee do for your brain?
I've got to be honest with you. Some mornings, I just can't get started without a cup of coffee.
No matter how much I tell myself I don't need it, that I should just have a good healthy breakfast and maybe a brisk walk around the block, I always find myself with a steaming mug of delicious brew next to my computer.
Today, though, I read some news that is making me feel a little better about my morning ritual.
A large European study (more than 500,000 people!) has shown that coffee and tea drinkers may be less likely to develop the most common form of malignant brain tumor than those who don't go for the brewed beverages.
Gliomas make up about 80 percent of brain cancers in adults -- and this study links the consumption of coffee and tea to a lower risk of developing the group of tumors.
People who drank an average of at least 3.5 ounces of coffee or tea per day were one-third less likely to be diagnosed with glioma than people who drank less or no coffee or tea at all.
Brain tumors are generally uncommon (over a lifetime, the odds a person will develop a cancerous tumor are about one percent), and researchers are saying the results are preliminary.
They are promising, though -- previous research has shown that caffeine could slow the growth of glioblastomas, a type of glioma. And we already know that coffee and tea contain antioxidants, which protect our cells from damage.
The research team is also saying that people shouldn't change their coffee or tea drinking habits based on the news. But I'm taking it as a sign that it's okay to start my morning with a cup of coffee -- and to wind down at the end of the day with a calming mug of tea.
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Christine O'Brien writes the e-letter Health eTips for Dr. Wright's Nutrition and Healing.
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Comments
vikingstork
For those who get jeebees from caffeine, try dark roast, it's robust but mellow, and it only has half - caffeine of regular roast. Seems to contradict common sense, but it's true. You can find numerous places on the web which will confirm this. The darker the coffee, the less caffeine in it. Seems like the heat of extra roasting destroys it.
K.G. Rao
Not many people on the planet, I'm sure, who don't have either coffee or tea in reasonable to excessive quantities. Is the incidence of brain tumours as low?
Seg
Christine, if you feel like you cannot begin the day without a cup of coffee, you might be lacking CHOLINE. Try a good supplement and see how that works- Dr AL Sears has a great product in this regard - Chloine punch.
You might also want to see how much GOOD QUALITY SLEEP you are getting.
Seg
Another thing to note is that coffee must be organic, because it's one of the most heavily sprayed crops out there -with chemicals i.e.
Anonymous
a study covering 500,000 people on something that is uncommon... that is just sad. A study of the same size on something that is common, now that would be something.
DonnaC
Keep in mind that the big brands of coffee are loaded with pesticides. Organic coffee is really the better choice, as well as supporting poor farmers doing the right thing.
DonnaC
I have read that for every cup of coffee, you need to drink two cups of water. Coffee is distinctly diuretic. In moderation it is a friend but it is also heating and aggravating to the bladder. It may contribute to the formation of oxalic kidney stones - in excess. A drink to be respected and treated like a drug I think. It can be extremely habit -forming.
Anonymous
I agree -it must be organic!
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