The health benefits of coffee

As one of the world’s favourite beverages, it’s understandable that there is a sizeable bank of research on the possible health benefits of drinking coffee.

As the Harvard Health Letter pointed out in 2011, “It’s surprising when something that was once considered questionable for your health turns out to have health benefits, usually with the proviso to use it “in moderation.” That happened with chocolate and alcohol, and now it’s coffee’s turn”.

Here’s some of our favourite coffee facts, for you to use in rebuttal to questioning friends and colleagues or maybe even for use at an upcoming trivia night!

• A 2003 study by the Journal of Nutrition found that coffee is one of the healthiest beverages on the planet, as most people get more antioxidants from it than both fruits and vegetables.
• The British Nutrition Foundation conducted a study that found coffee doesn’t just keep you awake, it may literally make you smarter as well. It found that caffeine can improve mood, reaction time, memory, vigilance and general cognitive function.
• The Yunessun Spa Resort in Hakone Japan has a coffee hot spring spa for guests to bathe in. It has been said that coffee is an effective treatment from the recovery of fatigue, and also adds beauty to the skin. The aroma of the coffee will also perk up your senses.
• A study by the National Institute of Health found that those who drink four or more cups of coffee per day are 10% less likely to be depressed than those who don’t drink it at all.
• Researchers at the University of Minnesota found that more than 3 cups of coffee per day drastically decreased the risk of the most common type of liver cancer.
• A Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Ageing and Dementia study has shown that people who drank 3-5 cups of coffee per day had a 65% decreased chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease or dementia later on in life.
• A study published by the American Journal of Physiology found that people who drink coffee can increase fat burning in their body and boost their metabolic rate by 10-30%.
• A University of Queensland study suggests that consuming caffeine one hour prior to exercise improves exercise capacity and muscular strength in prostate cancer survivors.
• A 2011 study published by the US Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry found that people who drink four or more cups of coffee a day reduce their chances of developing Type 2 diabetes by 50 percent.
• A 2007 study published by the International Journal of Dermatology discovered that caffeine stimulates the growth of tiny follicles in the scalp in men who are starting to lose their hair.
• A 2005 study by the Department of Psychology at Southwestern University, Georgetown USA, found female rats that got a shot of caffeine were more motivated to seek out sex than uncaffeinated animals.