Some experts are shedding light on the astonishing health benefits of one of the world’s most popular beverages: coffee. Professor Stephen Safe of Texas A&M University and his team reviewed a number of peer-reviewed studies and declared the beverage a “miracle.”
The team even compared the benefits of the caffeine favorite to the new trendy Mediterranean diet and the “wonder drug” aspirin. Stephen specifically pointed UPI to the drink’s ability to reduce people’s risk of a host of health problems.
Coffee often gets a bad rap for its high caffeine content or its potentially harmful effects on oral health. However, Stephen stressed that the vast majority of studies indicate that the health benefits of coffee outweigh the negative effects.
A 2019 study found that coffee consumption reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes by 22%. A more recent 2021 study found that people who drink more than 60 cups of coffee per month reduced their risk of liver cancer by 70%. The risk of colon and breast cancer also decreased by almost 50%, and the risk of thyroid cancer decreased by almost 30%.
While more research is needed to discover what makes the breakfast beverage so beneficial, its astonishing protective powers have been known for decades, as a 2002 study found that it reduced the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease by as much as 30%. But the extent of its miraculous powers has yet to be discovered, as a study published last year that looked at diets that included coffee found a reduced risk of neurological conditions like dementia.
This latest study was conducted by Marilyn Cornelis of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The associate professor of preventive medicine has been researching the health benefits of coffee and caffeine for more than two decades.
She explained that the caffeine in the drink has a neuroprotective effect, helping the brain create dopaminergic neurons, the same brain cells that many Parkinson’s treatments are designed to stimulate. While she agreed that more research is needed into why coffee is so beneficial, she argued that it likely has to do with the polyphenols it naturally creates, which likely have antioxidant effects.
Furthermore, an analysis of 32 studies published last year debunked the claim that coffee consumption is linked to heart disease. However, Dr. Donald D. Hensrud of the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine pointed out that excessive coffee consumption can cause sleep problems, heart palpitations and worsening of symptoms in older men with enlarged prostate glands, such as excessive urination.