2 of 12

Benefit

Write now Print Email Article Invite a writer™ Add to Favorites Contact this writer

Well, I know that it's definitely a health benefit for other people around me. Before I get my first cup of coffee I can be a little homicidal.

I have a night job and I like to come into work a little earlier to grab dinner with my co-workers and to get that all-important first cup of coffee of the evening. It helps to wake me up and it stimulates my brain cells so that whatever projects I have waiting for me I'll be able to tackle without too much difficulty.

Plus, it helps to stabilize my moods. My co-workers know what I'm like without coffee. They've come to fear that version of me.

All of that aside, I've seen the research on how coffee can help to prevent Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Diseases. That's good to know, because both have popped up in my wife's and my families. We'd rather not get those if we can help it.

But, did you know that drinking hot coffee can prevent certain cancers? It's true. Studies have shown that the hot vapors off of a strong cup of coffee (not sure if decaf counts but decaf is evil anyway) can actually help prevent lung cancer and there are actually documented lab studies where coffee has REVERSED early tuberculoma growths. Now, these tests are still going on, but I'd be willing to take my chances on it.

Now, I know there are some that say that coffee can cause high blood pressure. Well, I've been drinking coffee for over a quarter of a century and my blood pressure is about 97 over 70 (like everyone it fluctuates). Perhaps I'm some kind of mutant and unaffected by this, or like so many other studies from the anti-coffee lobby these tests still aren't conclusive.

There are also those that believe that coffee can cause insomnia. Along with quite a few friends of mine, I can drink half a pot of coffee an hour before bed and have no trouble falling asleep - although, I often have to get up to use the little boy's room.

So, is it a benefit or risk? Does it matter? Every day people drive really fast cars, eating fast food, talking on cell phones (that can cause brain tumors!), while smoking. I think that these people are in much more danger than I am unless there's a long line at Starbucks before I've had my first cup.

Learn more about this author, David Furritus.
Click here to send author comments or questions.

more options

hide

Add your voice

Know something about Is coffee a health benefit or a health risk??
We want to hear your view. Write now!