Top 10 Reasons To Drink Coffee

There are 100 million U.S. coffee drinkers who spend billions on coffee each year. Nearly 70 percent claim they have to drink coffee within the first hour of waking up. But besides perking you up in the morning, what many may not know is that there are also health benefits associated with drinking coffee. Our Top 10 Picks For Reasons to Drink Coffee 1) Coffee Lowers Prostate Cancer Risk Drinking 4 or more cups of coffee a day is associated with a lower risk for prostate cancer recurrence and progression, according to a prospective study published online in Cancer Causes and Control. The study authors found that men who drank that much coffee daily had a 59% reduced risk for prostate cancer recurrence and/or progression, compared with those who drank 1 or fewer cups per week. 2) Coffee May Reduce Memory Loss Two back-to-back studies conducted at the University of South Florida's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center indicate lab mice that consumed the equivalent of 500 milligrams of caffeine per day had a positive improvement with their memory. Over the course of the study, the caffeine significantly decreased the abnormal levels of the protein linked to Alzheimer's disease, both in the brains and in the blood of the mice that were exhibiting symptoms of the disease. (source) 3) Coffee Supercharges Protection Against Alzheimer's Previous studies published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, suggested five cups of coffee a day could help slow the progress of Alzheimer's and even reverse the condition in those already diagnosed. The caffeine in coffee decreases brain production of the abnormal protein beta-amyloid, which is thought to cause the disease. But in new findings reported by Science Daily that appeared in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, researchers have determined an unidentified component of coffee interacts with the beverage's caffeine, which could be why daily coffee intake protects against Alzheimer's. The new study shows caffeinated coffee causes an increase in blood levels of a growth factor called GCSF (granulocyte colony stimulating factor)" a substance lacking in patients with Alzheimer's disease, and which also improved memory in Alzheimer's mice. 4) Caffeine Enhances Long-Term Memories A study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience concludes that caffeine enhances consolidation of long-term memories in humans. A team at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland found that caffeine enhances certain memories for at least a day after they were formed. Evidence for caffeine as a memory booster has been anecdotal until now. (source) 5) Coffee Helps to Prevent Diabetes Coffee drinking has been linked with a reduced risk of diabetes. Three compounds found in coffee appear to block the toxic accumulation of a protein linked with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. "We found three major coffee compounds can reverse this toxic process and may explain why coffee drinking is associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes," says researcher Kun Huang, PhD, a professor of biological pharmacy at the Huazhong University of Science & Technology. Previous studies have found that people who drink four or more cups of coffee a day have a 50% lower risk of getting type 2 diabetes. The study is published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 6) Coffee Prevents Kidney Stones Researchers from Boston and Rome analyzed dietary data from 194,000 participants in a Harvard Health Professionals study and Nurses Health study and found associations between certain beveragessuch as fruit punch and sugary sodasand increased kidney stone risk. They also found that certain drinks decreased a person's risk including coffee (both caffeinated and decaffeinated), tea, wine, beer and orange juice. (source) 7) Coffee Cuts Liver Cancer Risk Researchers from Italy have shown that coffee consumption reduces the risk of liver cancer by about 40%. And some of the results indicate that if you drink three cups a day, the risks are reduced by more than 50%. 8) Coffee Reduces Colon Cancer Risk A team of researchers at the National Cancer Institute found that those who drank four or more cups of coffee (both regular and decaf) per day had a 15 percent lower risk of developing colon cancer. Researchers from the University of Minnesota also note that coffee contains a higher amount of polyphenols than tea or red wine. They found that the caffeic acid in coffee suppressed colon cancer cell from spreading. 9) Coffee Cuts Skin Cancer Risk Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston found that the more coffee women drank in their study, the less likely they were to develop basal cell carcinoma, the most common type of skin cancer. One possible reason for the inverse association: caffeine. Caffeinated drinks, like tea and soda, also showed a smaller risk of basal cell carcinoma, while decaf coffee showed no decrease in risk. (source) 10) Coffee Inhibits Depression Drinking between two to four cups of coffee every day reduces the risk of suicide in men and women by 50 percent. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health reviewed data from three previous US studies and found the risk of suicide among adults who drank several cups of caffeinated coffee on a daily basis was about half that of that compared to those who drank decaffeinated coffee, very little coffee or no coffee at all.