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The Coffee Thread

Regular coffee or decaf? Drinking both may benefit the liver

Previous research has shown that coffee consumption can benefit the liver, but a new study indicates that drinking decaf also lowers liver enzyme levels, suggesting the benefits are not linked to caffeine content.

As autumn settles in and the temperatures drop, starting the day with a steaming cup of coffee becomes even more appealing; and this is a daily habit that recent research has linked to certain health benefits.

Drinking the tasty beverage has been linked to reduced risks for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, cirrhosis and liver cancer.?

Americans are definitely gravitating toward coffee as part of their daily diet; according to a 2010 report from the National Coffee Association, more than 50% of all Americans over age 18 drink around three cups each day.

What is more, the International Coffee Association say coffee consumption has increased 1% each year since the 1980s, and in recent years, this figure has jumped to 2%.

The researchers of this latest study - led by Dr. Qian Xiao from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD - publish their findings in the journal Hepatology.

"Prior research found that drinking coffee may have a possible protective effect on the liver," says Dr. Xiao. "However, the evidence is not clear if that benefit may extend to decaffeinated coffee." ...

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/283750.php
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I read a meta-analysis of coffee studies recently..... if only I could remember where. Anyway turns out that the evidence isn't strong either way. It seems that most benefits are derived from 4 cups a day for diseases such as heart disease and diabetes ( an apparent decrease of 11% in the prevalence ) which gradually decreases with every cup up to 11, at which risks start to increase. The studies are generally marred by their lack of control for extraneous variables such as size of cup, type of coffee ( decaffeinated, filter, instant, etc.)

So I guess I will continue to drink my coffee every day simply because I like the taste of it!
 
At latte! A proper coffee in Space and more. Vid at link.

One thing ISS astronauts must have really missed was a cup of decent coffee – something impossible to make in the conditions of zero gravity.

But on Sunday the new international crew ferried to the International Space Station aboard a Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft. Among them was Italy’s first female astronaut, Samantha Cristoforetti, who brought a cherished 20-kilogram coffee machine, called the ISSpresso.

The final coffee product will not be served in a cup though – given the gravity restrictions – but piped into a sealed plastic pouch, from which the astronauts will have to drink it through a straw.

Famous coffee maker Lavazza which created the device along with engineering firm Argotec hopes the machine will become “a venue for getting together, chatting and relaxing: an aspect that should not be ignored in missions that keep the astronauts away from home for many months in a challenging environment.” ...

http://rt.com/news/208331-iss-coffee-robot-printer/
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Could make the coffee a bit strong.

A Berlin coffee business found stimulants it didn’t expect in a shipment of unroasted coffee from Brazil: 33kg (nearly 73lb) of cocaine. Police in the German capital said employees at the coffee-roasting business found the bag full of the drug the previous day when they opened a newly-arrived container of coffee. They contacted authorities.

The delivery was shipped from Brazil to the German North Sea port of Bremerhaven on its way to Berlin. Police said in a statement they are investigating who was responsible and how the drugs ended up at the coffee business.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/world/...ds-33kg-of-cocaine-in-consignment-303523.html
 
Many of us turn to coffee for a morning boost, and now, a new study offers another excuse to drink the stimulating beverage; it could reduce the risk of melanoma skin cancer by a fifth.

Could drinking four cups of coffee a day help keep melanoma away? A new study suggests so.
The study, conducted by researchers from the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Yale School of Public Health at Yale University in New Haven, CT, is published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The US is certainly a nation of coffee drinkers; more than half of us drink an average of 3.1 cups of it every day. And with the health benefits the beverage has been associated with in the past, it is no wonder.

Last year, Medical News Today reported on studies associated coffee consumption with reduced risk of death from liver cirrhosis, lower risk of type 2 diabetesand a reduced risk of tinnitus, among other health benefits. ...

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/288316.php
 
SHAYBARSABE said:
Remember: the lighter the color, the more caffiene. There's some from a roasting company around here that's practically blond.

I used to drink four to six cups per day (not of the blond kind); but, it turns out that I have an allergy to the stuff, and to chocolate. Sniff.
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I'm wondering if I may have an allergy too. I get horribly bloated when I touch coffee.
 
Coffee makes you hard and cool. It's the alternative for nonsmokers but particularly journalists or novelists to announce their predeliction towards riskiness and coolness without exposing themselves to the the purer form of investigative journalism that would report on personal experiences of cannabis, LSD, heroin or a potentially fatal reheated Christmas dinner.


This is what we've come to.
 
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Study links coffee intake with reduced risk of endometrial cancer

Endometrial cancer is the most common cancer of the female reproductive organs in the US, affecting around 1 in 37 women in their lifetime. But in a new study, researchers found that drinking three to four cups of coffee a day could reduce the risk of endometrial cancer by almost a fifth.

Women who drink three or four cups of coffee a day may reduce their risk of endometrial cancer "by almost a fifth."
Endometrial cancer is a cancer that begins in the lining of the uterus, called the endometrium. The disease is rare in women under the age of 45, with around 3 in 4 cases in the US diagnosed in women aged 55 and over.

According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), around 54,870 women will be diagnosed with endometrial cancer or uterine sarcomas this year, and 10,170 will die from the conditions.

Though it is unclear exactly what causes endometrial cancer, past studies claim hormonal imbalances,diabetes, obesity and an unhealthy diet are some important risk factors.

In this latest study - published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention - Melissa A. Merritt, PhD, of Imperial College London in the UK, and colleagues set out to investigate how dietary factors affect the risk of endometrial cancer. ...

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/288988.php
 
Here's Why You Shouldn't Drink Coffee Before 9:30 in the Morning

... Cortisol, the stress hormone that helps us feel alert and energized, peaks at about 8 or 9 a.m., at least for people who work a typical 9-to-5 job and sleep during the same hours each night. Most people, says Miller, don't need caffeine to give them a boost at a time they're already naturally alert. In addition, drinking a caffeinated beverage at a time when you're already sharp could lead to desensitization, which, Miller explains, means that you'll need an increasing amount of the drug—in this case caffeine—to get the same effect.

For the best morning buzz based on brain biology, Miller recommends saving your coffee fix until 9:30 a.m., when cortisol levels are starting to drop off.

He admits, though, that his recommendation doesn't hold true for everyone: Anyone whose sleep schedule is not regular or who works evening or night shifts will have a different cortisol production rhythm. In fact, he actually doesn't follow his own chronopharmacological advice. Miller told Gastropod that, as a neuroscience PhD student, he works long, irregular hours and gets little sleep, and he always starts off his day, at any hour, with an extra strong caffeinated beverage. ...

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/02/breakfast-myths-coffee-gastropod
 
A new study set to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 67th Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, suggests yet another potential health benefit of coffee consumption: it could reduce the risk of multiple sclerosis.

The risk of MS could be reduced by drinking at least four cups of coffee a day, according to the researchers.
It is estimated that more than 2.3 million people worldwide have multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic disease of the central nervous system - the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves.

MS is thought to be an autoimmune disease, whereby immune-system induced inflammation damages the protective coating of nerve fibers, called myelin. Symptoms of MS vary but commonly include loss of balance and coordination, blurred vision, extremefatigue, tremors and numbness.

Past studies have suggested that coffee consumption may protect against other neurological diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. In this latest study, researchers say the beverage could also protect against MS. ...

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/289891.php
 
Caffeine isn't good for us in large quantities. I'd meant to give it up for a while, and then years ago during a family crisis I accidentally picked up decaf coffee at the supermarket. We were all feeling so bad that the lack of caffeine went unnoticed for weeks! After that I was sold on it.

However, on changing jobs recently I began drinking awesomely-strong commuter coffee. Big mugs of it, several times a day. It was nice but I paid for it in broken sleep.

So yesterday I cut out all caffeine. Gave me a nagging headache all afternoon and evening. Eventually took aspirins and it went away.

Had the sweetest night's sleep in months though. It's decaf all the way for me now!

A friend has terrible sleep patterns. He goes to bed as normal but is awake in the early hours and can't sleep, or he does drop off again and wake up repeatedly. He drinks mug after mug of strong coffee. I've told him to cut down and see how much better he sleeps. I bet he won't! It's a real addiction.
 
On the occasions that I get a migraine (and it's probably about 3 times per month these days), I've noticed that it almost always seems to be on a Saturday. As often as not, it develops late in the morning and into Saturday afternoon.

It's occurred to me very recently that this is the day when I go from drinking 7 or 8 cups of coffee per day, to two or three at most. That said, and in a complete about-face from my earlier posts on this thread, I'm pretty much caffeine-free these days (Kenco decaff is one that really does taste like the regular stuff), but I still wonder whether my head is reacting to the jump-step from lots of coffee to very little.
 
Why has my post been moved here? It's not News, it's Chat.
 
escargot1 said:
Why has my post been moved here? It's not News, it's Chat.
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Its title was "Is there a coffee (caffeine?) thread?"

Given that, I presumed you couldn't find this thread.

Theres a lot of chat about coffee on this thread as well but if you so wish I'll split the thread off.
 
everybody loves coffe, especially with sugar and cream))

 
Jerry_B said:
Hmm - do they actually mean coffee or caffeine? I mean, is it something to do with caffeine when it's in coffee, or just caffeine in general? It's not all that clear from the article.
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It might also depend upon the china in which the coffee is served, and even more, the atmosphere in a pleasant cafe!
 
TWO ENTREPRENEURS SET OUT FOR WAR-TORN YEMEN IN SEARCH OF A BREW THAT COULD CHANGE COFFEE DRINKING FOREVER

The small fishing boat carrying two Americans and a local captain bounced and skidded across the choppy waves of the Red Sea. As they sped away from Yemen toward the African nation of Djibouti, Andrew Nicholson and Mokhtar Alkhanshali kept a close eye on the heavy suitcases they had tucked away beneath a protective blue tarp. Inside was the cargo they had driven for seven hours, past Houthi rebel checkpoints and Saudi Arabian airstrikes, to bring back to the United States: ninety kilos of Yemeni coffee beans.

The beans were destined for appraisal at the annual Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) conference in Washington State later that same month. If they won favor with buyers and critics, it would be a crucial step in restoring Yemen's coffee legacy — not to mention validating the years the two men had spent scouring the war-torn nation for forgotten varieties. It would also mean New York consumers would be some of the first in the country to taste the exotic product — local roaster Mike Love of Coffee Labs in Tarrytown had a date with Nicholson and Alkhanshali in Seattle to sample their newly imported wares for purchase.

First, though, the pair had to make it through a multi-hour trip in a twenty-foot skiff across the twenty-mile strait of the Bab-el-Mandeb, or "gateway of grief," without navigational equipment. Facing violent waves and a waterway stalked by Somali pirates, Nicholson and Alkhanshali could only hope their cargo would end up in American coffee drinkers' cups, and not at the bottom of the sea.

http://www.villagevoice.com/restaur...social&utm_source=app.net&utm_campaign=buffer
 
I quit drinking coffee a few weeks ago, and within days my ecxema had cleared-up and an ongoing stomach complaint disappeared...so no more for me!
 
Philosophers Drinking Coffee: The Excessive Habits of Kant, Voltaire & Kierkegaard
in Food & Drink, Philosophy| March 6th, 2015

I think I speak for many of us when I say that coffee fuels our greatest intellectual efforts. And even as we get the jitters and leave brown rings on our desks, we can take comfort in the fact that so it also went with some of the most notable philosophers in the history of the discipline. As far back as the 18th century, no less a writer, thinker, and agitator than François-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire, “reportedly consumed somewhere between 40 and 50 cups of joe a day, apparently of a chocolate-coffee mixture. He lived into his eighties, though his doctor warned him that his beloved coffee would kill him.”

That comes from Amanda Scherker at The Huffington Post writing up “9 Famous Geniuses Who Were Also Huge Coffee Addicts.” Voltaire’s java habit also comes up on “10 Odd Obsessions of Famous Philosophers” by Virginia Muir at Listverse, who names his drinking venue of choice (the Café Procope in Paris) and indicates the extent of his enthusiasm by noting that “he even regularly paid exorbitant fees to have luxury coffee imported for his personal use” — which certainly doesn’t seem so eccentric today. ...

http://www.openculture.com/2015/03/philosophers-drinking-coffee.html
 
It's a funny thing but tea doesn't agree with me at all and I drink it less and less. Coffee on the other hand...
 
Add the composer Brahms to the list of coffee addicts. As a youngster, I often browsed in Scholes's Oxford Companion to Music, which contained this charming image of the great composer firing-up his morning coffee. :)

brahmscoffeeaddict.jpg
 
JamesWhitehead said:
Add the composer Brahms to the list of coffee addicts. As a youngster, I often browsed in Scholes's Oxford Companion to Music, which contained this charming image of the great composer firing-up his morning coffee. :)

View attachment 2735
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Looks like a samovar for making tea.
 
Mythopoeika said:
Looks like a samovar for making tea.
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I did note that it seemed to be on a harness to tip the liquor from a spout; instead, it has a tap low down, though high enough to avoid the grounds. Perhaps Brahms would tip the thing to extract the last drops . . .

It also quite possible that the English artist - Barrett, known as "Batt" - didn't have a clue! :D

edit:

Looking up samovars, they have a tap, as in the Brahms picture. They don't seem to be mounted on a swing, though. :confused:

edit 2:

This page has something like the Brahms machine.

The loop at the top is probably just the Handel! :p

BrahmsCoffeePot?.png


Even more spillage of beans:

I'd guess the grounds stayed at the top and the water rose to meet them, descending through filters with the flavour. I'm a fan of the Cona system, which uses a ground-glass plug to keep the grounds from descending without contact with metal. It is a bit labour-intensive to clean afterwards.

Mostly, these days, I settle for the French Press though I do like to grind my own beans. :D
 
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JamesWhitehead said:
Looking up samovars, they have a tap, as in the Brahms picture. They don't seem to be mounted on a swing, though. :confused:
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True.
But you'll notice that there is no such thing as a standard design for a samovar. ;)
 
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