JustCare

Tag: Coffee

  • How to boost your brainpower

    How to boost your brainpower

    Ready to boost your brainpower? Consumer Reports advises that you keep your weight normal and eat foods rich in nutrients. Whether or not the advice works to improve your memory and thinking, you can’t go wrong trying it.

    Eat foods rich in flavonoids. Flavonoids decrease the likelihood of inflammation and damage to cells. They also help blood flow. One long-term study found that people who eat apples, berries, pears and other foods rich in flavonoids had a greater likelihood of not having their thinking slip than people who did not.

    Avoid supplements. As a general rule, supplements offer no benefit to people who are otherwise healthy. Some supplements contain ingredients that are dangerous or otherwise not good for you. At the same time, be sure you have enough vitamin B12, D and folate.

    Eat salad. Some experts say that eating one cup of salad or a half cup of cooked leafy greens can keep your mind from slipping as fast as it otherwise might. One study found that people who ate leafy greens daily had brains that worked at the same level as people more than a decade younger.

    Eat lots of fatty fish. Studies find a lower risk of dementia among people who eat tuna, sardines and salmon several times a week. These fish contain a lot of omega-3 fatty acids which reduce the likelihood of inflammation in the brain. Eating a lot of these fish also reduces intake of red meat which has a lot of saturated fat and is bad for your health. Note: Tuna, swordfish and halibut can have high mercury levels, so you might want to avoid eating too much of these fish.

    Follow a DASH, MIND or Mediterranean diet. You should eat a diet rich in whole grains, less fatty proteins and produce. For example, you might eat lots of green vegetables, avocados, nuts, grains, fatty fish and olive oil. Berries and greens could be particularly helpful to your brain function.

    Drink coffee and tea. Coffee and tea contain a lot of flavonoids. Studies show a 30 percent reduced risk of dementia and stroke among people who drink two or three cups of coffee daily as well as tea.

    And, don’t forget to exercise!

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  • Better health comes with beneficial microbes and coffee

    Better health comes with beneficial microbes and coffee

    Anahad O writes for the New York Times on a new study published in Nature Magazine that confirms much of what we know about the link between good nutrition and better health. In short, our guts are filled with bacteria and other microbes that can lead to a variety of different health conditions. And, we can determine which of those microbes live with us through what we eat and drink.

    You’ve surely heard it before. Diets that are filled with whole foods are best for your health. Diets filled with processed foods, foods that have extra sugar and salt and other additives undermine your health. They lead to cardiovascular and other chronic conditions.

    Your genes have some role to play in your health, but much less of a role than you might imagine, a minor one. People who eat lots of vegetables, nuts, seeds and seafood have better microbes. Fiber is good for the gut. People who eat salami, potato chips, and oreos have far fewer healthy microbes.

    Of note, another study published in JAMA, shows that drinking coffee helps to promote good health. People who drink coffee have a lower likelihood of getting Parkinson’s, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers. Studies also show that drinking a quart of coffee a day reduces people’s risk of premature death. And, people who drink a lot of coffee, whether caffeinated or not, experience a 50 percent drop in their risk of suicide.

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  • Does coffee, tea or chocolate improve your brain’s health

    Does coffee, tea or chocolate improve your brain’s health

    You may have read that the different phytochemicals in fruits can be good for your health, protecting you against cardiovascular disease and tumor growth, among other things. Coffee, tea and chocolate also contain phytochemicals. One recent study by the National Institute on Aging and Johns Hopkins University finds that these phytochemicals might improve your brain’s health.

    The study, published in Neurochemical Research magazine, and reported by Inc., finds that the phytochemical methylxanthines helps the brain, “protecting neurons against dysfunction and death” when examined in animals with stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Coffee, tea and chocolate all contain this phytochemical.

    A second phytochemical, xanthine metabolites, which is released after caffeine consumption, could also be beneficial to brain health.

    Separately, a meta-analysis of 11 studies, published in World Journal of Surgical Oncology, reveals that coffee and tea might reduce the risk of both Alzheimer’s disease and brain cancer. Specifically, the researchers found that “higher consumption of coffee may contribute to the lower development of brain cancer in Asian populations.”

    And, yet another major study at Okayama University found that chemicals in caffeine prevents neurodegeneration in the brain, making it more resilient.

    The good news is that coffee is the most common drink after water. The question becomes whether the possible benefits of caffeine for your brain health outweigh its risks. Coffee can be responsible for anxiety, insomnia, irritability, and panic attacks.

    According to the studies, you need to drink six or eight eight ounce cups of coffee a day to promote your brain health. Among other things, a good night’s sleep, which drinking too much caffeine may prevent, also promotes good health.

    You can replace the coffee with dark chocolate to get the requisite phytochemicals. But, you want to avoid sugar and keep your weight down as well!

  • Coffee appears to be good for your health

    Coffee appears to be good for your health

    In the category of almost too good to believe, coffee appears to be good for your health. The U.S.D.A. in its dietary guidelines for Americans says that up to five cups of coffee a day could have health benefits. So, in addition to being the most popular central nervous stimulant in the world, coffee has been found to stave off cancer, heart disease, stroke, depression, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease–possibly because of its antioxidants and phenolic compounds.

    • Longer life: A recent study of more than half a million people, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that people who drink between one and four cups of coffee a day, caffeinated or decaffeinated, over the course of 16 years lower their chances of dying from a variety of health conditions. Men who drank three or more cups of coffee a day were 18 percent less likely to die than people who did not drink coffee; women who drank three or more cups of coffee a day were eight percent less likely to die.
    • Less likelihood of heart disease: A meta-study of 36 studies published in Circulation, found that people who drank three to five cups of coffee a day had the lowest risk of heart disease.
    • Less likelihood of stroke: A meta-study of nine studies published in the Korean Journal of Family Medicine, found that people who drank four or more cups of coffee a day reduced their risk of stroke.
    • Less likelihood of liver cancer: A meta-study of four cohort and five case-control studies published in Science Direct found that people who drank two or more cups of coffee a day reduced their risk of liver cancer.
    • Less likelihood of depression for older women: A  2011 Harvard School of Public Health study of 53,000 women who drank four or more cups of caffeinated coffee a day, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that they had a 20 percent lower risk of depression than women who drank little coffee a day. The women studied averaged 63 years old.
    • Less likelihood of type 2 diabetes: A 2014 Harvard School of Public Health study found that people who increased their daily coffee intake by at least a cup a day over four years reduced their chances of type 2 diabetes by 11 percent relative to people who did not. It further found that people who decreased their daily coffee intake by more than a cup a day increased their risk of type 2 diabetes by 17 percent relative to those who did not.
    • Less likelihood of Parkinson’s disease for people drinking three cups of coffee a day.
    • Possibly less likelihood of dementia and cognitive decline, but no evidence as to daily intake of coffee needed.

    This all said, people with acid reflux should likely avoid coffee because of its acidic properties.

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