The response from coffee professionals to all this might be obvious - the industry has a history of bad press to overcome with the public about safety before it can market its purported health benefits.  This is no question that , for decades, the media has trumpeted that coffee might be very dangerous, indeed - it can kill your baby, or addict you, or dehydrate you, or increase your blood pressure, or increase your risk for miscarriage... the public scares seem to go on and on.  Yet despite the recurring buzz about coffee's so-called dangers, not a single government health authority has restricted consumption of coffee in any way.

What, then, is the scientific consensus on coffee?  Despite the publication of nearly 20,000 studies on coffee and caffeine in peer reviewed scientific journals (according to the National Library of Medicine), the US Food and Drug Administration still maintains caffeine to be, after periodic reviews, "Generally  Recognized as Safe."

Actually, coffee is not only safe but may significantly reduce the risk of a good number of life-threatening diseases.  In the past ten years, scientific research carried out at the Mayo Clinic, Harvard School of Public Health, U.S. Veterans Administration and other institutions show that drinking from 2 to 4 cups of coffee a day can lower the risk of colon cancer by 25%, of gallstones by 45%, of Parkinson's Disease by 50% to 80%, and of cirrhosis of the liver by about 80%.  A large-scale epidemiological study conducted in Italy indicates that coffee can even reduce the incidence of asthma by 25% because of the presence of the chemical theophylline.

What's more, scientific research in the US and Great Britain has shown that coffee is an excellent anti-depressant and an effective performance enhancer, improving one's memory and energy levels.

The latest research on coffee carried out by the Harvard School of Public Health only confirms these positive findings. In the study, men who drank more than 6 eight-ounce cups of caffeinated coffee per day lowered their risk of Type II diabetes by 50%, and women reduced their risk by nearly 30% (Annals of Internal Medicine, January 2004).

In the Harvard study, which took place over a period of 12 to 18 years, more than 126,000 people filled out questionnaires every two to four years reporting on their intake of coffee and tea, among other foods.  Researchers adjusted the data for risk factors such as smoking, exercise and obesity.

Given that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 18.2 million Americans, or more than 6% of the population have diabetes, and that Type II diabetes accounts for between 90% and 95% of the total, this latest research provides coffee with yet another powerful health claim for consumption of coffee on a daily basis.

As more than 100 million Americans can testify, coffee can be the best part of waking up, for others, a heavenly drink that is also good to the last drop.  Coffee can be all that... and it can be more.

This is a reprint.

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