www.lauralewis.com/article_0301a.htm
By Maryan Pelland
Are health risks simmering in your favorite mug or are you actually protecting yourself with moderate amounts of caffeine? The jury is still out - opinions are somewhat divided in traditional and alternative medical communities, but new evidence shines a friendlier light on dietary caffeine in moderate amounts. Most experts have disconnected coffee drinking and heart disease, and they aren't too worried about coffee and hypertension. They're looking a little deeper into the cup.
Sources like the Journal of the American Medical Association, and Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics agree that caffeine, the stimulant found in coffee, tea, and soft drinks, may have a benevolent side.
Everybody knows, for instance, that caffeine wakes you up, makes you feel more alert, and may boost metabolism to help with weight loss. There's even some evidence that caffeine enhances memory retention.
But did you know doctors who monitored 86,000 women for ten years concluded that coffee drinkers in the study had a significantly smaller incidence of suicide than a control group did? Or that coffee may help prevent gallstones? Do you know it's even been used to treat mild ADD or ADHD in children and adults?
In a new study by Madrid's Carlo III Health Institute, smokers at risk of developing bladder cancer were protected by regularly consuming coffee. Dr. Gonzalo Lopez-Abente said, "This could suggest that coffee consumption modifies the effects of tobacco smoking."
Research points to beneficial links between caffeine and Parkinson's Disease in men. The AMA Journal reported a 30-year study finding far less incidence of the condition among participants whose diets included caffeine. A follow-up study underlined similar results - good news for baby-boomers rapidly approaching the age where Parkinson's is something to think about.
The most interesting find, the one that may impact your life, characterizes coffee as a pain reliever. You already know that skipping your daily cuppa may bring on a nasty headache. But experts say a dose of caffeine may actually help tension, migraine, post-traumatic and post-operative headaches. Two-thirds of regular headache sufferers in one study experienced better than usual pain relief when treated with a combination of ibuprofen and caffeine. They were pain-free nearly one hour sooner than expected. too.
And, according to the Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago, caffeine doesn't have to be a prescription to help you feel better fast. A comforting mug of coffee, latte or cappuccino will do the trick for some people.
How does this encouraging information fit into your lifestyle? The consensus: If you enjoy normal good health, regularly including moderate amounts of caffeine in your diet is probably safe. It's a prudent idea to talk to your health care providers and let them manage use of caffeine to treat major or long-term health issues.
But if you're among the millions of people regularly at the mercy of tension or migraine headaches, it looks like it isn't a bad idea to pamper yourself and take a coffee break the next time you reach for your headache tablets.
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