Good News for Heavy Coffee Drinkers

For a recent food article, I put together some tips on coffee drinking. How much is too much? Check out these facts from Harvard School of Public Health

A study conducted at Harved tested how 130,000 people responded to coffee (sometimes with milk and sugar) over 18 to 24 years. What did they find?

- For the general population, the evidence suggests that coffee drinking doesn't have any serious detrimental health effects.

- On the contrary, in terms of effects on mortality or other health factors, no negative effects were found in people consuming 1 or up to six cups of coffee a day. (!!!!)

- Research over the past few years suggests that coffee consumption may protect against type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, liver cancer, and liver cirrhosis.

- Those with high blood pressure or diabetes should monitor their reaction to caffeine and possibly switch to decaf if they find they are reacting poorly to the caffeine in coffee.

- As coffee does pass through the placenta, it is recommended pregnant women reduce coffee consumption to a low level, for example one cup a day.

- People who have high cholesterol levels or who want to prevent having high cholesterol levels should consider using paper filtered coffee or instant coffee, as it reduces levels of cafestol (a stimulator of LDL cholesterol levels).