News of Antioxidants in Coffee not a License to Make It a Mainstay in Health Regimens

Coffee may be a chief source of antioxidants in the American diet, as recently reported at the meeting of the American Chemical Society by Dr. Joe Vinson of the University of Scranton, but "that is not a license to make it a mainstay of your health regimen," says Dr. Keith I. Block of the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Care & Optimal Health in Evanston, Illinois. Vinson recently found that, based on both the concentration of antioxidants in coffee and the relative amounts we consume of coffee and the more conventionally acknowledged antioxidant sources - fruits and vegetables - coffee contributes more to our antioxidant intake than any other food.

"Vinson's results are perhaps more a reflection on the inadequacy of our fruit and vegetable intake than on the health benefits of coffee, which has some significant health concerns for many people," noted Block. Caffeinated coffee joins several other popular caffeine sources in the diet in contributing to excess intake of this natural drug. Recent studies highlight the role that caffeine overdose plays in insomnia, anxiety disorders, elevation of stress hormones, urination and bladder problems in older women, and non-cancerous breast lumps. It produces a small but disturbingly significant elevation of blood pressure. Even decaffeinated coffee contributes to health problems. When it's combined with high-fat milk, cream, sugar or flavorings, a single 16-oz cup can have over 250 calories - a questionable addition to the diet of anyone trying to keep their weight under control (not to mention their budget)! "Decaf and caffeinated coffee alike contribute to a range of gastric problems that are becoming ever more important in contemporary society, including both ulcers and the widespread gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD or chronic heartburn), which can be a precursor to esophageal cancer," explained Block, who is co-founder and Medical/Scientific Director of the Block Center. "While a little coffee can be fine for most people, increasing beyond a cup or two a day can lead to clinical problems. The supersized caffeinated blends can actually be toxic! In fact some studies have found that increases in blood levels can be responsible for adverse effects among persons consuming only moderately increased doses over average consumption. Though usually toxic dosing requires quite high dosing, upwards of 150 ounces daily, toxicity can result for some people if they were to consume 35 to 70 ounces in a short period. This is only 7 to 14 cups at only 5 ounces per cup. Or, at the supersize 16+ ounce level, only a few!"

While many people may be able to tolerate coffee in the small cup or two per day that Dr. Vinson points out as being reasonable, anyone with health problems that are potentially coffee- or caffeine-related needs to examine their daily coffee intake closely.

"Yes, coffee is chock full of antioxidants," says Dr. Block, "but don't run to your neighborhood coffee-house in place of consuming fruits and vegetables. These colorful plants contain an array of plant chemicals that help reduce your risks of killer diseases like cancer and heart disease."

The Block Center for Integrative Cancer Care and Optimal Health, located in Evanston, Illinois, was founded in 1980 by Penny and Keith Block, M.D. with a focus on treating the patient as a whole person, not treating just the diagnosis or symptoms. The Center's research-based treatment integrates an innovative approach to the best of conventional medicine with scientifically sound complementary therapies -- therapeutic nutrition, botanical and phytonutrient supplementation, prescriptive exercise, and systematic mind-body strategies -- to enhance the recovery process. Block has pioneered this "middle ground" approach to cancer care and optimal health - designing a total treatment plan that is tailored to the precise needs of each patient, using a unique set of clinical and laboratory assessments. The Block Center is breaking new ground with the creation and development of Cancer Rehab as an innovative treatment modality, and currently is the only private North American medical center using chrono-modulated chemotherapy. While the Block Center is a full treatment clinic, it is involved in collaborative research with M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas as a Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP) and is also engaged in clinical cancer research with other university facilities in the United States and Israel ( www.blockmd.com )

www.blockmd.com

And You Thought Coffee Was Bad for You!

I am sure that if you are a coffee enthusiast, you have heard this, but if not let me state it here. "Coffee is good for you!"

"Coffee is good for you!"

Recent research has shown that coffee is the number one source of antioxidants in the American diet. Antioxidants, are nutrients that are responsible from protecting your body's cells from being destroyed by toxins. This destruction has been linked to an increased risk of certain medical conditions, such as cancer, heart disease and others.

Antioxidants are found in the good stuff that our mothers made us eat when we were little, namely fruits & veggies. Amazingly, many of us didn't listen and took up coffee instead because more Americans get their daily dose of antioxidants from coffee than from broccoli!

The top 10 list for the the source of antioxidants in the Americandiet were listed as follows:

1. Coffee 2. Black Tea 3. Bananas 4. Dried Beans 5. Corn 6. Red Wine 7. Beer 8. Apples 9. Tomatoes 10.Potatoes

Research also showed that there was esentially no difference between the amount of antioxidants in regular versus decaf coffees.

Now this doesn't mean that you should run out and consume mass amounts of coffee. Like everything in life, moderation is the key!

And by the way, you should still eat your fruits and veggies, just finish them off with a great cup of coffee!

Check out more coffee tips and science at the coffee facts & fiction section of our website, WeBeJava.com

WeBeJava.com

gourmet coffee the anti cancer drink maybe

When the Ink Spots sang "I love the java jive and it loves me" in 1940, they could not have known how right they were.
Coffee not only helps clear the mind and perk up the energy, it also provides more healthful antioxidants than any other food or beverage in the American diet, according to a study released Sunday.

Of course, too much coffee can make people jittery and even raise cholesterol levels, so food experts stress moderation.

"The point is, people are getting the most antioxidants from beverages, as opposed to what you might think," Vinson said in a telephone interview.

Antioxidants, which are thought to help battle cancer and provide other health benefits, are abundant in grains, tomatoes and many other fruits and vegetables.

Vinson said he was researching tea and cocoa and other foods and decided to study coffee, too.

His team analyzed the antioxidant content of more than 100 different food items, including vegetables, fruits, nuts, spices, oils and common beverages. They then used Agriculture Department data on typical food consumption patterns to calculate how much antioxidant each food contributes to a person's diet.

They concluded that the average adult consumes 1,299 milligrams of antioxidants daily from coffee. The closest competitor was tea at 294 milligrams. Rounding out the top five sources were bananas, 76 milligrams; dry beans, 72 milligrams; and corn, 48 milligrams. According to the Agriculture Department, the typical adult American drinks 1.64 cups of coffee daily.

That does not mean coffee is a substitute for fruit and vegetables.

"Unfortunately, consumers are still not eating enough fruits and vegetables, which are better for you from an overall nutritional point of view due to their higher content of vitamins, minerals and fiber," Vinson said.

Dates, cranberries, red grapes Dates, cranberries and red grapes are among the leading fruit sources of antioxidants, he said.

The antioxidants in coffee are known as polyphenols. Sometimes they are bound to a sugar molecule, which covers up the antioxidant group, Vinson said.

The first step in measuring them was to break that sugar link. He noted that chemicals in the stomach do the same thing, freeing the polyphenols.

"We think that antioxidants can be good for you in a number of ways," including affecting enzymes and genes, though more research is needed, Vinson said.

"If I say more coffee is better, then I would have to tell you to spread it out to keep the levels of antioxidants up," Vinson said. "We always talk about moderation in anything."

His findings were released in conjunction with the annual convention of the American Chemical Society in Washington.

In February, a team of Japanese researchers reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute that people who drank coffee daily, or nearly every day, had half the liver cancer risk of those who never drank it. The protective effect occurred in people who drank one to two cups a day and increased at three to four cups.

Diabetes risk Last year, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that drinking coffee cut the risk of developing the most common form of diabetes.

Men who drank more than six 8-ounce cups of caffeinated coffee per day lowered their risk of type 2 diabetes by about half, and women reduced their risk by nearly 30 percent, compared with people who did not drink coffee, according to the study in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Bonnie Liebman, nutrition director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said she was not surprised by Vinson's finding, because tea has been known to contain antioxidants.

But Liebman, who was not part of Vinson's research team, cautioned that while many people have faith that antioxidants will reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease and more, the evidence has not always panned out. Most experts are looking beyond antioxidants to the combination of vitamins, minerals other nutrition in specific foods, she said.

I am sure you've heard all about this before. I wouldn't be surprised if coffee companies start producing TV commercials promoting the health benefits of coffee because of antioxidants -- they probably have! In any case, how true is this? Is coffee really good for our health because of the amount of antioxidants it contains? There have been different studies about this matter but here is one done by Joe A. Vinson, a chemistry professor at the University of Scranton, Pennsylvania. According to his study: "The average adult consumes 1,299 milligrams of antioxidants daily from coffee. The closest competitor was tea at 294 milligrams. Rounding out the top five sources were bananas, 76 milligrams; dry beans, 72 milligrams; and corn, 48 milligrams. According to the Agriculture Department, the typical adult American drinks 1.64 cups of coffee daily." What's this again -- in English, please? Coffee does contain a high amount of antioxidants. The question that remains is whether the antioxidants are enough to offset some of the possible negative effects of coffee. Don't get me wrong -- I can't survive without coffee. But I also know that too much coffee (I don't want to admit that there is something such as too much coffee, really) can induce hyperacidity, among other things. Some people feel jittery. Others (naturally) have a hard time falling asleep. The effects are different with different people. I am no scientist but at this point, if they say coffee has antioxidants and that it can be good for you, I take it as a good thing. Whether or not it has antioxidants, I still love this drink, don't you?

Boake Moore founded Mission Grounds Coffee to help impoveished children around the world. Its a non profit which has used 100% of its profits to build schools and orphanages in China; Russia; Venezuela and Africa.