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Coffee is a stimulating beverage which has been used for thousands of years by mankind to enhance, stimulate, and relax. Coffee has been considered a part of American life since the revolutionary war. This bitter beverage contains a substance called caffeine, and caffeine has been used as a stimulate to promote wakefulness and weight loss in the people who drink it. Coffee has both healthful qualities and health risks for those who consume this ancient South American drink.

The negative facts about the caffeine containing coffee are that it may increase blood pressure and cholesterol levels among consumers. High blood pressure and cholesterol can lead to more serious health problems like heart disease and heat attacks.

Coffee , because of its caffeine content can be habit forming. Caffeine withdrawal can lead to headaches and irritability. Studies done by medical researchers are currently finding empirical support for coffee's purported relationship with cancer and cholesterol. More research needs to be done in this area before anything truly definitive can be discovered.

Positive aspects of drinking coffee can be found in a consumers enjoyment of drinking the beverage itself. Coffee offers mental stimulation as well as an increase in the metabolism of the consumers themselves. Coffee, although considered a stimulant is often drunk by people to attain relaxation. Relaxation reduces stress and so could be helpful in improving overall health.

I personally consume pots of coffee everyday. When other people remark to me that drinking such large amounts of the caffeine containing beverage could be harmful to my health, I retort,"An old woman in Russia lived to be a 103 because she drank coffee," It is true, years ago I read a story about a centurion woman in Russia who claimed that drinking large amounts of coffee was one of the reasons that she achieved such a long life.

Whatever your feelings about the health benefits or risks of drinking coffee are, you cannot deny the aroma, stimulation, and relaxation that accompanies the consumption of the caffeinated beverage. Coffee is and always has been part of the traditional American life.

Learn more about this author, Danette M. Scott.
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