Coffee is a naturally occurring substance. Many of the biologically active compounds that are found in it actually have health benefits, especially when it comes to your cardiovascular and central nervous systems. There are also many great benefits for your digestive tract. It also contains many antioxidants, anti-inflammatory chemicals, and can even help aid in the prevention of certain types of brain cancer. It’s interesting to take note of all of the benefits of coffee.
Decreased Likelihood of Tumors and Parkinson’s Disease
In Japan 106,234 people (50,438 men and 55,886 women) were studied between 1990 – 2013. The study concluded that people who drank coffee were less likely to be at risk of developing a brain tumor. In specific, the risk of gliomas (a specific type of tumor that affects your brain stem and spinal column) decreased when a person drank at least three cups of coffee each day.
There are other studies that have been conducted in the past 40 years that have reported other similar health benefits. For instance, one study discovered that people were less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease when they drank 5 or more cups of coffee daily.
Decreased Likelihood of Dementia and Stroke
There’s a recent study that looked at how coffee affected a person’s brain. In this study, researchers used MRI to record the changes that are associated with impaired cognitive performance – in specific, dementia. There were 2,914 participants in this study who were around 59-years-old and 55% of them were female. These participants were followed for 5 years before undergoing a second MRI. The study concluded that those who drank more coffee saw health benefits that included a lesser likelihood of suffering from ischemic strokes (those that occur because an artery has blocked the flow of blood to the brain). These participants also did better in word and math tests even though their short-term memory didn’t improve any.
Improved Cognitive Behavior
Another study investigated the health benefits of drinking coffee in regards to cognitive behavior – especially regarding how the brain’s various antioxidant systems changed. Here it was discovered that coffee helped improve a person’s long-term memory, reduce the lipid peroxidation of their brain’s membranes, and increase the amount of the antioxidant glutathione. This resulted in improved cognitive function and more antioxidants reaching the brain which can help prevent the cognitive decline that’s typically associated with age.
Improved Cognitive Performance
Another of the many health benefits associated with coffee has to do with cognitive functioning. In one study it was discovered that coffee helped improve it. This study looked at how much coffee 2,513 participants over the age of 60 drank during two different 24-hour periods before participating in various verbal tests (Boston Naming Test, Mini-Mental State Examination, Word List Learning test, Recall, and Recognition Test). In doing so they discovered that one of the health benefits of coffee is that it helped improve their verbal fluency.
Reduced Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
There’s also growing evidence that coffee can help reduce the risk of a person developing Type 2 diabetes – something that can result in various neurological diseases (e.g. dementia, Alzheimer’s). Coffee has also been shown to improve a person’s metabolism in all parts of the body. Unfortunately, when you drink coffee it can result in some negative cardiovascular side effects which are especially dangerous for seniors.
The Bottom Line
Clearly, there are a lot of great reasons why you should drink coffee, especially if you’re concerned with your health. It’s important to note here that the benefits will only last for around 10 hours after you drink a cup of coffee. Nevertheless, the benefits of drinking coffee still tend to outweigh the negatives. You should still know what these include though. For instance, coffee can interfere with your sleep which is why you shouldn’t drink it later in the day (it’s out of your body within 5 hours).
There are many ways in which you can take care of yourself today. Learning about the health benefits of drinking coffee is just one of them. Taking care of your mental health is also important. This is why you should contact TMS Advantage in Clearwater and St Petersburg, FL today.
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