A toast to caffeine! 7 good reasons to start your day with a cup of coffee
New Delhi: Starting a day with a cup of coffee is considered one of the best ways to make your morning a 'good' morning. Drinking coffee gives a much-needed energy boost. It is not just
New Delhi: Starting a day with a cup of coffee is considered one of the best ways to make your morning a 'good' morning. Drinking coffee gives a much-needed energy boost. It is not just the taste of the freshly brewed beans and its unique flavour, a cup of coffee contains a number of benefits for health and well-being that can keep you going.
Here are the health benefits of drinking coffee that you would love to know.
1. It improves memory
Moderate intake of coffee helps improve memory and cognitive performance of the brain because of its caffeine levels.
Studies say that drinking coffee makes your brain work in a very effective and smarter way. When we drink coffee, it not only keeps us awake but at the same time, it keeps us sharper.
2. The ‘feel-good’ factor
Besides the benefits of drinking coffee, the aroma of coffee itself has the ability to de-stress. Research has found that drinking coffee makes you feel happy and stress-free as it contains those trusty antioxidants.
3.Enhances physical performance, helps burn fat
Drinking coffee helps in gaining energy which lets you perform better physically. That probably explains the presence of caffeine in most fat-burning supplements available commercially. Caffeine acts as a catalyst on the central nervous system. It not only raises metabolism but also increases the oxidation of fatty acids.
Intake of caffeine also helps athletes perform better. It not only reduces their post-work out muscle pain but also decreases levels of fatigue during the last minutes of work-out.
4.It reduces suicide risk and depression
Harvard researchers in a recent study indicated that drinking two to four cups of coffee can reduce the risk of suicide in men and women by about 50 percent. The reason is because coffee has a property of acting as a mild anti-depressant.
It aids in the production of neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline which reduces the risk of suicide.
5.It lowers your risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
Coffee helps in protecting your brain in old age.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common neurodegenerative disorder in the world and a leading cause of dementia.
A study done by National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health suggested that coffee drinkers have up to a 60% lower risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Parkinson’s is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, characterized by death of dopamine-generating neurons in the brain. Coffee may lower the risk of Parkinson’s by 32-60%.
6. It reduces risk of developing Type 2 diabetes
Coffee lowers risk of Type 2 diabetes, according to a new study led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers. Those people who drink four or more cups of coffee a day reduce their chances of developing Type 2 diabetes by 50 percent.
7. It reduces the risk of some types of cancer
Researchers have found out that drinking coffee lowers the risk of both liver and colorectal cancer. Liver cancer ranks third for cancer-related deaths, while colorectal ranks fourth.
Coffee helps in reducing the impact of chemical carcinogenesis in liver tissue, and also has an inverse relationship with liver cirrhosis.
Dr. Barbara Shukitt-Hale, USDA Lead scientist in the Laboratory of Neuroscience in Boston in one of her studies found out that intake of coffee reduces the risk of cirrhosis up to 80 percent, thus preventing cancer risk.