Finca Rosa Blanca Coffee Plantation and Inn

Re-worked Brews Up Furniture from Recycled Coffee Grounds

2012-02-14T09:40:00.000-06:00

http://inhabitat.com

To most folks, used coffee grounds aren’t particularly useful — but a couple of British designers figured out a way to turn those old grounds into new furniture. That’s right, you can now you can rest your cappuccino on a table made of (mostly) recycled coffee grounds. Re-worked, a non-profit design company that specializes in green technology, recently unveiled a product called Çurface (pronounced “surface”), which is a composite board made of used coffee grounds and recycled waste plastics — a perfect illustration of upcycling. The material is water-proof, scratch-proof, and it’s malleable enough to be used in a variety of functions. The Re-worked website describes Çurface as “a very high quality tactile finish reminiscent of a combination of chocolate, leather and stone.” So far, the material has been used to make a couple of different types of chairs, bar stools and coffee tables. Adam Fairweather, the founder of Re-worked, has been brewing up different uses for recycled coffee grounds for the past couple of years, but it looks like he’s perfected the recipe with his latest designs. Previously, Fairweather used coffee waste to create a garden fertilizer that repels slugs, as well as coffee cups made of recycled coffee.

The Re-worked team is currently working on opening a showroom in London, and they’ve already produced a bunch of prototypes. At least one coffee shop has commissioned the furniture (what could be more appropriate than sipping coffee on a chair made of coffee?), and the Çurface website welcomes commissions.

Coffee could improve memory

2012-02-07T16:53:00.001-06:00

07 Feb 2012

Drinking decaffeinated coffee could improve our memory, a study suggests. They tested their theory by giving a dietary supplement with the same properties of decaffeinated coffee to mice with type 2 diabetic mice

Researchers said the drink could improve the memory of people suffering from diseases of the brain or age-related forgetfulness, and may even prevent symptoms from appearing in the first place.

They tested their theory by giving a dietary supplement with the same properties of decaffeinated coffee to mice with type 2 diabetic mice.

The disease lowers glucose levels in the brain, causing impairment in memory and other brain functions, but after five months of treatment mice given the supplement, as opposed to a placebo, showed raised levels of glucose. Dr Giulio Maria Pasinetti of the Mount Sinai School in New York, who led the research, said tests on humans could follow. He said: "This is the first evidence showing the potential benefits of decaffeinated coffee preparations for both preventing and treating cognitive decline caused by type 2 diabetes, ageing, and/or neurodegenerative disorders."

Coffee is linked to a higher risk of heart disease and stroke, but Dr Pasinetti said these effects were most likely due to the caffeine content. Studies which suggest that the early symptoms of diseases like Alzheimer's, such as memory loss, can be detected several decades before diagnosis highlight the need for protective treatments, he added.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9067164/Coffee-could-improve-memory.html

Evergreen Neurologist Co-Authors New Study Linking Coffee, Genetics and Parkinson's Disease Prevention

2012-02-03T15:25:00.001-06:00

By Evergreen Healthcare

Published: Friday, Feb. 3, 2012 - 9:57 am

KIRKLAND, Wash., Feb. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

A recent study co-authored by Evergreen Healthcare neurologist Dr. Pinky Agarwal finds good news for coffee drinkers: consuming caffeinated coffee may significantly reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease in some men and women depending on their genetics, according to research recently published by the Public Library of Science.

According to the study, researchers identified a connection between coffee's protective qualities and a gene known as GRIN2A, which regulates brain signals that control movement and behavior.

On average, heavy coffee drinkers were found to have 27 percent lower risk of developing Parkinson's disease, regardless of the genes they carry. The risk was even less for heavy coffee drinkers who carry a specific variation of GRIN2A. They have 59 percent less chance of developing the disease, according to the research. Parkinson's disease, which affects more than 50,000 Americans each year, is a progressive disorder of the central nervous system that affects movement. Symptoms, which are most common in those over 50, often include tremors, muscle tension and changes in speech or gait.

"Researchers have long studied the relationship between coffee and Parkinson's disease with results often showing that all people do not benefit equally from consuming varying amounts of caffeinated coffee. Through this study, we have proven the benefits of using genetic evidence to determine new risk factors for Parkinson's," said Dr. Agarwal. "We think the results will contribute to more personalized treatment for and prevention of this disease."

Dr. Agarwal, a neurologist at Evergreen Hospital's Booth Gardner Parkinson's Care Center in Kirkland, co-authored the study alongside a team of nationally recognized specialists within a range of fields including oncology, epidemiology, neurology, genetics and environmental health studies.

Dr. Agarwal has been a principal researcher on numerous clinical trials and worked previously as Director of Clinical Research at The Colorado Neurological Institute. She is also fellowship-trained in Movement Disorders at The Neurological Institute at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York. "Evergreen is proud to be a leader in the study, prevention and treatment of Parkinson's disease," stated Evergreen Healthcare CEO Bob Malte. "Dr. Agarwal's expertise is especially crucial to our work, and helps us deliver comprehensive, individualized care to patients who suffer from the disease."

Coffee consumption reduces fibrosis risk in those with fatty liver disease

2012-02-02T14:52:00.000-06:00

February 2, 2012

Caffeine consumption has long been associated with decreased risk of liver disease and reduced fibrosis in patients with chronic liver disease. Now, newly published research confirms that coffee caffeine consumption reduces the risk of advanced fibrosis in those with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Findings published in the February issue of Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, show that increased coffee intake, specifically among patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), decreases risk of hepatic fibrosis.

The steady increase in rates of diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome over the past 20 years has given rise to greater prevalence of NAFLD. In fact, experts now believe NAFLD is the leading cause of chronic liver disease in the U.S., surpassing both hepatitis B and C. The majority of patients will have isolated fatty liver which has a very low likelihood of developing progressive liver disease. However, a subset of patients will have NASH, which is characterized by inflammation of the liver, destruction of liver cells, and possibly scarring of the liver. Progression to cirrhosis (advanced scarring of the liver) may occur in about 10-11% of NASH patients over a 15 year period, although this is highly variable.

To enhance understanding of the correlation between coffee consumption and the prevalence and severity of NAFLD, a team led by Dr. Stephen Harrison, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army at Brooke Army Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston, Texas surveyed participants from a previous NAFLD study as well as NASH patients treated at the center's hepatology clinic. The 306 participants were asked about caffeine coffee consumption and categorized into four groups: patients with no sign of fibrosis on ultrasound (control), steatosis, NASH stage 0-1, and NASH stage 2-4.

Researchers found that the average milligrams in total caffeine consumption per day in the control, steatosis, Nash 0-1, and Nash 2-4 groups was 307, 229, 351 and 252; average milligrams of coffee intake per day was 228, 160, 255, and 152, respectively. There was a significant difference in caffeine consumption between patients in the steatosis group compared to those with NASH stage 0-1. Coffee consumption was significantly greater for patients with NASH stage 0-1, with 58% of caffeine intake from regular coffee, than with NASH stage 2-4 patients at only 36% of caffeine consumption from regular coffee.

Multiple analyses showed a negative correlation between coffee consumption and risk of hepatic fibrosis. "Our study is the first to demonstrate a histopatholgic relationship between fatty liver disease and estimated coffee intake," concludes Dr. Harrison. "Patients with NASH may benefit from moderate coffee consumption that decreases risk of advanced fibrosis. Further prospective research should examine the amount of coffee intake on clinical outcomes."
More information: "Association of Coffee and Caffeine Consumption with Fatty Liver Disease, Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis, and Degree of Hepatic Fibrosis." Jeffrey W Molloy, Christopher J Calcagno, Christopher D Williams, Frances J Jones, Dawn M Torres, Stephen A Harrison. Hepatology; December 22, 2011 (DOI: 10.1002/hep.24731);

Coffee Intake Can Affect Estrogen Levels in Women

2012-01-31T15:34:00.005-06:00

By Laura Holland Fletcher

Feeling feminine? Maybe it depends on how much coffee you're drinking. Coffee intake can affect estrogen levels in women, according to a new study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Estrogen plays a vital role in women's health, driving the build-up and replacement of bone cells and aiding the healthy functioning of the blood vessels and brain as well as other parts of the body. It additionally promotes youthful and healthy skin, and many dermatologists prescribe estrogen treatments, including the birth control pill, to reduce acne in their patients.

Women who are caffeine fiends may find that their addiction has an effect on their supply of this vital hormone, however. Researchers found that estrogen levels in women who consumed 200 milligrams of caffeine a day—just over two cups of coffee—were lower in white women. Astonishingly, in Asian and African-American women, they were higher.

These results could have significance for over 90% of the female American population between the ages of 18 and 34, who consume at least one cup of coffee per day. However, the study only looked at a sample of 269 women, so more research needs to be done.

Dr. Enrique Schisterman reiterated this notion in The New York Times. "We don't know if there are long-term effects of these small shifts in [estrogen] levels." As author of the study and senior investigator at the National Institutes of Health, he assures women who drink coffee that they have no reason to worry about these findings. "This is important physiologically because it helps us understand how caffeine is metabolized by different genetic groups."

Schisterman thinks that genetics may affect the body's ability to process caffeine, explaining the difference between racial groups. However, it is important to note that neither white women nor women of color who consumed caffeine from other sources besides coffee, such as green tea, black tea, or soda, experienced a drop in estrogen levels. Women of all races actually experienced an increase in estrogen when ingesting caffeine through these sources.

Schisterman thinks that differing levels of antioxidants and other compounds in non-coffee drinks may explain this difference.

The study examined primarily women of reproductive age, between the ages of 18 and 44, so the effect of caffeine on women going through menopause remains unknown.

Last Updated: Monday, January 30, 2012

5 things I've learned after 2,000 cups of coffee

2012-01-27T17:06:00.000-06:00

(Reprint of a nice article, the photo is ours. As Scott says, " Microroasters rock with more unique limited=run single origins or estate coffees."... Finca rosa blanca is one of the few estate coffees in Costa Rica)

Posted by Scott Lush

http://www.roaste.com/CoffeeBlogs/scott/5-things-Ive-learned-after-2000-cups-coffee

Thu, 01/26/2012

Since we started ROASTe, I've sampled probably 250+ coffees and consumed about 2,000 cups of coffee. Prepared by every conceivable method -- Aeropress, Chemex, Clover, hand-lever espresso machine, super-automatic espresso machine, siphons, french presses, the ordinary drip coffee machine and stovetop espresso machines. I've drank the coffee from McDonalds and Bob's Big Boy to Espresso Vivace and Counter Culture Coffee.

Our office space looks like a coffee drug den with every possible coffee preparation technique. Or maybe a laboratory, that would be a better analogy.

After all that coffee and samples I've learned 5 things:

1. Freshness is paramount. Drink the coffee within 2-3 weeks of opening the valve bag and/or roast (ideally both). Anything longer and it loses flavor. Valve bags definitely preserve the flavor for 2-3 months but I find that once opened valve bags lose their flavor more quickly than fresh roasted beans - in about a week. That's why we love shipping fresh coffee to ROASTe customers. It does taste tremendously better. The only exception here is that some espressos taste better to me 5-7 days after roast. Credit goes to Velton of Velton's Espresso for that tip.

2. Buy a decent burr grinder and purchase coffee in whole beans. Grind just before brewing. Freshly ground coffee does taste tremendously better. Even the Cup of Excelence winners taste ho-hum if they are sold ground and a week old (I know, we've tried a bunch at ROASTe). Flat blade spice-style grinders yield coffee that tastes thin. A $29 blade grinder will waste its weight in gold of good coffee.

3. Microroasters rock with more unique limited=run single origins or estate coffees. They also roast ligher, typically. They will bend over backwards to make sure you're happy as a customer. They care deeply about every cup. They give back to the farmers (whom in industry lingo we call "producers"). They answer your questions. They're usually not selling you a marketing story; they're selling you great coffee.

4. Spend $400 or more for an espresso machine and the taste will be demonstrably better. Spend $400 or more for brands like Ascaso, Rancilio, Saeco, Unica, Quick Mill or Nuova Simonelli and you'll get a much better cup of espresso. You'll be able to experiment with different boiler temperatures, pull times, and pull pressure (depending on the machine's capabilities) so that you can get things just right.

5. this is the most innovative time ever to enjoy gourmet coffee. 50 years ago coffee was sitting in sweaty jute bags smelling up your dry-goods grocer. 20 years ago Starbucks was roasting up 1 roast. Now you have an endless variety of single-origins, estates, dry-processed / naturals, wood-roasted, profile-roasted, machines galore and wildcatting Indiana Jones style roasters obsessed with finding unique beans. 50 years ago it was Mokka Java or Folgers. Today it's 1,500 different coffees.

Now go enjoy all that wonderful variety in gourmet coffee.

Peaberries at Finca Rosa Blanca

2012-01-22T13:45:00.000-06:00

Peaberry

The word Peaberry, we call it "caracolillo" or also known as"caracoli" is type of mutation of the coffee bean inside its husk, which is generally due to the lack of fertilization generating only one rounded hard bean as opposed to the "twins" that you might normally see in almost all the coffee cherry development.The peaberry, which is named so because it looks like a small pea, as opposed to the normal bean which is comprised of two hemispheres with one side being relatively flat and with a vertical line down the center, normally occurs in about 2-5% of the coffee crop is touted and often associated with Tanzania, Hawaii and Columbia

Finca Rosa Blanca Coffee

The coffee from our fields consistently yields about 11-12% peaberries which is phenomenal in comparison to the world average for gourmet coffees. This is one of the many reasons why Finca Rosa Blanca coffee is so desirable and one of the most delicious experiences one can have drinking coffee.

Roasting
There has been some controversy as to the apparent affect of the roasting of the Peaberries as they seem to roast better due to their rounded shape and therefore allow the rolling around of the bean in the roasting chamber fomenting a more even roasting, and because they are also generally denser, some think that this allows them to transfer heat more consistently, this improving the goal of a consistent roast. We think that they exude an intense flavor that has a symbiosis with the other beans in bringing out the best attributes of the coffee in the roast

Drink Coffee? Off With Your Head!

2012-01-17T19:36:00.001-06:00

11:21 am

January 17, 2012

by Adam Cole, The Salt, NPR's Food Blog

Most folks who resolved to cut down on coffee this year are driven by the simple desire for self-improvement.

But for coffee drinkers in 17th-century Turkey, there was a much more concrete motivating force: a big guy with a sword.

Sultan Murad IV, a ruler of the Ottoman Empire, would not have been a fan of Starbucks. Under his rule, the consumption of coffee was a capital offense.

The sultan was so intent on eradicating coffee that he would disguise himself as a commoner and stalk the streets of Istanbul with a hundred-pound broadsword. Unfortunate coffee drinkers were decapitated as they sipped.

Though Murad IV banned tobacco, alcohol and coffee, some say he consumed all three and his death was the result of alcohol poisoning.

Murad IV's successor was more lenient. The punishment for a first offense was a light cudgeling. Caught with coffee a second time, the perpetrator was sewn into a leather bag and tossed in the river.

But people still drank coffee. Even with the sultan at the front door with a sword and the executioner at the back door with a sewing kit, they still wanted their daily cup of joe. And that's the history of coffee in a bean skin: Old habits die hard.

More Coffee, Less Type 2 Diabetes - Mystery Solved?

2012-01-11T17:32:00.000-06:00

ProHealth.com
January 11, 2012

Multiple studies show heavy coffee drinkers have a lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, a disease on the increase around the world that can lead to serious health problems. But why is this so?

A collaborative of Chinese scientists led by Drs. Ling Zheng and Kun Huang is offering a new solution to that long-standing mystery, in a report published Dec 28, 2011 by the Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry.(1)

Their report lays out the data from previous studies showing that coffee drinkers are at a lower risk for developing Type 2 diabetes, which accounts for 90% to 95% of diabetes cases in the world.

Specifically, those studies have shown that:

• People who drink four or more cups of coffee daily have a 50% lower risk of Type 2 diabetes.

• And every additional cup of coffee brings another decrease in risk of almost 7%.

The Chinese team also explains previous research implicating the misfolding of a substance called human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) in causing Type 2 diabetes.

Noting that diabetes researchers are seeking ways to block the hIAPP misfolding process, they decided to see if coffee's beneficial effects might be due to substances that block hIAPP.

And they have identified two categories of compounds in coffee that significantly inhibit hIAPP.

In fact all three major active components of coffee that they studied (caffeine, caffeic acid, and chlorogenic acid) exerted some ability to protect cells by inhibiting the toxic aggregation of hIAP. But caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid and their metabolites were most potent in that respect.

They suggest that this effect explains why coffee drinkers show a lower risk for developing diabetes, concluding that "A beneficial effect may thus be expected for a regular coffee drinker."

The authors acknowledge funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Basic Research Program of China, and the Chinese Ministry of Education.

Coffee May Help Prevent Endometrial Cancer

2012-01-10T18:38:00.002-06:00

Good news for women who drink 3 or more cups daily

by: Michael Haederle | from: AARP Bulletin | January 10, 2012

That cup of French roast might turn out to be more than just a tasty pick-me-up: Two new studies have found that women who drink several cups of coffee a day have a significantly lower risk of endometrial cancer.
In the first report, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health followed more than 67,000 women enrolled in the long-running Nurses' Health Study, which tracked their health and their coffee consumption, among other behaviors. The researchers published results in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Women who drank four 8-ounce cups a day had a 25 percent lower risk of endometrial cancer than women who drank one cup or less, the study found. Endometrial cancer — cancer in the lining of the uterus — is the most common gynecological cancer in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. Some 46,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, and 8,100 women will die from the disease. Most are diagnosed after the age of 50.

Scientists know that coffee reduces insulin and estrogen in the body, says Youjin Je, a nutritionist who led the Harvard study. "Since both high estrogen and high insulin have been associated with higher risk of endometrial cancer, we hypothesized that high coffee consumption may reduce the risk," she says.

The key finding of the second study was that women who drank more than three cups of coffee a day were 35 percent less likely to be diagnosed with endometrial cancer. This study followed 226,000 women enrolled in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study for an average of nine years. Researchers published their findings in the International Journal of Cancer. Both studies found decaffeinated coffee also had a protective effect, though in the Harvard study the effect was weaker with decaf. Cancer society epidemiologist Mia Gaudet, who took part in the NIH study, finds it "very reassuring" that the two studies had similar findings.

The Harvard study found no protective benefit from drinking tea, which, like coffee, contains caffeine, Je says. This suggests that other compounds in coffee, perhaps antioxidants, might play a role in lowering the cancer risk, she says. Prior research also has linked coffee consumption with a lower risk for type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease (in men), liver cirrhosis, liver cancer and aggressive prostate cancer, Je says.

The authors warned that adding substantial amounts of sugar or cream could reduce the protective effect. These "can cause weight gain or insulin resistance that may offset the potential benefits of coffee consumption," Je says.

While stopping short of recommending that women consume more java specifically to prevent cancer, Gaudet says, "these research findings should be reassuring to women who enjoy drinking coffee."

Michael Haederle is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in People, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.

Effects of coffee on health

2012-01-09T16:54:00.000-06:00

Heart to Heart Talk

By Philip Chua
Cebu Daily News

January 9th, 2012

ONE of the beverages that has gotten an undeserved bum rap is coffee, the morning-waker-upper many of us enjoy!

Unlike soft drinks (“liquid candy”) and energy drinks, which are both dangerous to health as shown by several scientific studies, coffee has several good effects on the body.

Coffee is known to increase short term memory and concentration. It helps in treating headaches and appears to help in lessening depression. Some of the bad effects include teeth stain, caffeine-induced anxiety in some people, and constipation.

“There is certainly much more good news than bad news, in terms of coffee and health,” according to Frank Hu, MD, MPH, PhD, nutrition and epidemiology professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, in a WebMD article.

In more than 15 reported researches involving more than 193,000 people, drinking coffee (caffeinated or decaf) was found to reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. This particular finding appears to be firm and most convincing. Other probable benefits coffee-drinkers get include a lowered likelihood of getting certain cancers, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, heart rhythm problems and stroke, although these have to be further confirmed. So far, the clinical indications are very positive.

In Dr. Hu’s review, “those who said they drank more than six or seven cups daily were 35 percent less likely to have type 2 diabetes than people who drank fewer than two cups daily….There was a smaller perk–a 28 percent lower risk–for people who drank four to six cups a day…The findings held regardless of sex, weight, or geographic location (U.S. or Europe).”

In a Australian review of more than 18 studies on 458,000 individuals, there was a “17 percent drop in the odds of having type 2 diabetes for every additional cup of coffee drunk daily,” with similar risk reductions among decaf coffee drinkers and tea drinkers.

Are there other studies confirming these?
While those studies are quite impressive, the 2008 research on 83,700 nurses in the long-term Nurses’ Health Study revealed a 20 percent reduced rate of stroke among those who drank two or more cups of coffee a day, compared to those who did not drink or had less, all other factors considered. The Kaiser Permanente study of 130,000 KP health plan members showed that those “who reported drinking one to three cups of coffee per day were 20 percent less likely to be hospitalized for abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias) than nondrinkers, regardless of other risk factors.

What in coffee might provide these benefits?
The exact mechanism is not clear. Dr. Hu says “It’s the whole package,” pointing to very potent anti-oxidants in coffee that “prevent tissue damage caused by oxygen-free radicals.” In another research (the Nurses Health Study), it shows that the 2000 women coffee drinkers in its survey had significantly lower (13 percent-14 percent) levels of C-peptide hormone, a component of insulin in our body, compared to non-coffee drinkers. Higher level of C-peptide, which indicates the body is unable to use insulin (called insulin resistance) are linked to the increased risk of developing adult-onset diabetes. The good effect was more apparent among obese and overweight women, 22 percent and 18 percent, respectively. So, if coffee reduces C-peptide, then the risk is reduced. The magnesium and chromium in coffee aids the body in utilizing insulin, which normally regulates blood sugar. Among those with type 2 diabetes, the body is unable to use insulin effectively to control blood sugar. Since the findings were also observed among those drinking decaffeinated coffee, it seems evident that the benefits are most likely not from the caffeine in itself.

Is this hormone working alone?
This is still not fully understood, either. Both regular and decaffeinated coffees have a lot of antioxidants in them, like chlorogenic acid (the ingredient that gives the “addicting” coffee flavor), phyto-estrogens, and magnesium. These chemicals improve sensitivity to insulin and may play a vital role in lowering adult onset diabetes. Caffeine itself is also known to affect insulin secretion. There are more than 800 aromatic compounds in coffee.

How about Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s?
The data for Parkinson’s Disease “have been always been very consistent: higher consumption of coffee is associated with decreased risk” of this neurological disease, according to Dr. Hu. The same good benefit was found between coffee and dementia and Alzheimer’s in a 2009 clinical study in Sweden and Finland among 1,400 persons, who consumed 3 to 5 cups of coffee daily and had 65 percent reduced risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia., compared no non-drinkers and those who drank less. The findings were similar for stroke, prostatic cancer and hepatic cancer.

How much calories are there in coffee?
Coffee has zero calorie. What you add to it (sweeteners, cream, etc) are the ones that add calories to coffee. Latte with non-fat milk, for instance, has 76 calories and up, depending on how you prepare it. With whole milk, it goes up to 136 calories. Cappuccino with non-fat milk, 40 calories, with whole milk, 73 calories; iced mocha coffee with non-fat milk, 87, with whole milk, 103.

How many cups of coffee are safe?
Since the long term effects of coffee (especially caffeinated) on diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and other illnesses are not totally clear, the so called “safe level” is an individual issue. One cup of regular coffee may be too much for one person, who might develop heart beat irregularity, like palpitation, or insomnia, when taken before bedtime. Three cups a day may not be enough to satisfy another. There is more leeway for consumption of decaffeinated coffee if you plan to follow this study, but even this should be tailored to your tolerance. The final word on this issue is not fully settled, but the preliminary results as presented above are most encouraging. More long term studies are definitely needed before this becomes a medical dogma.

Since individuals react differently, it is best for anyone contemplating to start on a coffee regimen (for pleasure or for health) to check with your physician.

In the meantime, coffee appears to be a healthy drink, On the other hand, soft drinks and energy drinks are dangerous to our well being and longevity.

*For more information, please go to philipSchua.com

Caffeine may aid with pain, depression, diabetes risk

2011-12-31T14:42:00.000-06:00

Caffeine is found in coffee, tea, chocolate, colas and energy drinks. Up to 90 percent of Americans consume some caffeine daily with more than 50 percent consuming a daily cup of coffee. Experts estimate the average daily dose of caffeine in the United States is around 200 milligrams. In Scandinavian and South American countries, caffeine intake averages 400 milligrams per day.
Caffeine content of typical sources:
•1 ounce espresso: 40-75 milligrams
•8 ounces brewed coffee: 95-200 milligrams
•8 ounces brewed tea: 15-40 milligrams
•12 ounces cola: 30-35 milligrams
•5-Hour Energy: 207 milligrams
•8 ounces of typical energy drink (Red Bull, Monster, Full Throttle): 70-80 milligrams
•Hershey's Kisses - 1 milligram per Kiss
•Decaffeinated products: 0-15 milligrams per serving

Husked beans drying on "Parijuelas"

Over the years, caffeine has gotten mixed reviews from the medical community. Research studies have suggested caffeine increased the risk of heart attack and then other studies found no increased risk. Women with benign breast lumps were told to eliminate caffeine as part of treatment, but later studies showed no association between caffeine and benign breast disease. So what is the latest on caffeine and health?

•Caffeine may reduce the chance of developing basal cell skin cancers. Women who drank more than three cups of coffee per day had a 20 percent lower risk of basal cell cancer than women who drank less than one cup of coffee a month.
•Caffeine may reduce depression. Another study with women showed a lower incidence of depression symptoms in those who drank two to three cups of coffee daily as compared with those who drank one cup per week.
•Caffeine does seem to help with pain relief and is included in many medications such as Excedrin and Midol which contain 100-130 milligrams per dose.
•Caffeine is a mild diuretic but does not cause dehydration with average intakes.
•Caffeine is a stimulant and can cause a temporary increase in blood pressure. If you have an irregular heart rhythm, doctors may advise reducing caffeine intake.
•Some people are more sensitive to caffeine than others and may feel "jittery" or have difficulty sleeping especially if caffeine is consumed later in the day.
•Caffeine can enhance performance for athletes when consumed an hour before an event.
•Caffeine is not associated with a greater risk of rheumatoid arthritis or gout.
•Caffeine may reduce the risk of diabetes, but further studies are needed in this area.

Dec. 26, 2011: Written by Kathy Warwick, Special to The Clarion-Ledger.
Kathy Warwick is a registered dietitian, certified diabetes educator and nutrition consultant

Coffee for the Birds

2011-12-31T14:19:00.002-06:00

By Chris Martin & Francie Von Mertens

NHPR New Hampshire News

Have you heard about coffee that's for the birds? There definitely is such a thing: shade-grown coffee. Until recently that's how all coffee grew: in the shade on small family farms. Canopy trees above provided shade along with a natural leaf mulch that kept soil moist, prevented soil erosion, and decomposed to provide nutrients. The canopy typically included fruit and nut trees that provided food for the farm family.

Twenty years ago, researchers from the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center found that shade-grown coffee farms also provide habitat for birds and other wildlife second only to undisturbed tropical forests. They also found that those forests are being cleared to create large, single-crop coffee plantations. Sun-baked rows of coffee shrubs aggressively pushed for maximum yield.

Pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, fertilizers and irrigation are all required when coffee production works against nature, not with. No Baltimore orioles sing from the treetops in sun-grown coffee plantations. There are no treetops!

Grey Necked Wood Rail

To support traditional family-run coffee farms, the Smithsonian developed a Bird-Friendly© certification process. Certified Organic and Fair Trade coffees are easily found and it's a very good bet that these coffees are shade grown. As for price, shade-grown fits in the middle of the specialty coffees: not the cheapest; not the most expensive.

It's a price a growing number of people here in New Hampshire and far beyond are willing to pay—for birds including Baltimore orioles whose numbers are in steady decline; for family farms and a fair wage; and for the health of soil and water.

http://fincarosablanca.com/?page=gallery/birdsgallery&language=eng

Coffee racks up points as cancer killer

2011-12-21T09:37:00.001-06:00

By Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen, Special to the Province

In the war against cancer, coffee may turn out to be one of the most beneficial and surprising weapons you never suspected. In just the past eight months, coffee — often lots of it (heaven if you can’t get enough of the stuff) — has been linked to lower rates of four kinds of cancer. We’ve checked the list twice. Here’s what could keep Starbucks’ and Keurig’s businesses nice. Starting with the newest news, coffee seems to be anathema to:
■ Endometrial cancer. Women who have several cups are 25 per cent less likely to develop endometrial cancer than women who don’t finish even one cup. (No, Dr. Mike doesn’t know how someone does that, either.) Dose: at least four cups a day.

■ Prostate cancer. There’s increasing evidence that prostate cancer wants nothing to do with coffee. Just weeks ago, new data came in indicating that coffee — high-test AND decaf — is particularly effective at shooing off the most dangerous kind of prostate cancer. Dose: at least one and ideally up to six cups a day, with/without caffeine.
■ The most common skin cancer, basal cell carcinoma. If cellular trouble has quietly started, caffeinated coffee acts to shut it down. Dose: more than three cups a day.
■ Breast cancer. Heavy coffee drinkers have been linked to a lower risk of certain types of breast cancer after menopause — 20 per cent to 50 per cent lower versus women who have less than a cup a day. Dose: at least five cups a day of regular. Decaf doesn’t do it.

Why coffee is GOOD for you and natural sea salt is a waste of money: New book unravels diet and nutrition myths

2011-12-19T15:29:00.000-06:00

By Daisy Dumas 19th December 2011

You've bought the 'super-food' açai berries, thrown away the 'less healthy' table salt and for years have steered away from 'harmful' MSG.

But your efforts may be in vain. A new book unpicks the veracity of a host of popular food beliefs, delivering verdicts on a swathe of commonly held nutrition myths - and the results are surprising.

Coffee is good for you, by Robert J Davis PhD, aims to deliver an unbiased take on the hard-to-navigate, and constantly growing, ocean of scientific data that is used to sell us our daily bread every day.

Out in January, it is a foray into the ever-vocal, big budget world of diet and nutrition claims, providing a crash-course in how to decipher confusing research.

The constant bombardment of new information - often completely contradictory to that preceding it - means that most of us are none the wiser when it comes to the everyday foods in our lives.

As Davis puts it: 'Though food is supposed to be one of life's simple pleasures, few things cause more angst and confusion.'

But the health writer, self-styled 'umpire' in the book, is sanguine about the thousands of (often corporately funded) scientific studies in the field, and rather than focusing on isolated findings, has taken into account a wealth of data and statistics, testing each claim on his own 'truth-scale.'

The results, which aim to be the unbiased 'bottom line,' are certainly food for thought.

Take coffee, the inspiration of the book's title. Often associated with an increased risk of heart disease and pancreatic cancer, coffee is also at the mercy of caffeine's bad press.

Davis writes that not only do coffee drinkers have no greater risks of heart attacks or strokes, but they 'appear to have a slightly lower risk' than coffee abstainers.

Demystifying myths: Coffee is Good for You is out on January 3

Add to this his evidence that overall, research shows that coffee does not increase the risk of cancer, instead lowering its odds in some cases and the outlook for coffee drinkers is far from all bad.

Just make sure to avoid the blended, sugary, milky hot drinks at some coffee chains - the extra calories from those drinks, he says, are likely to cause more health issues than the coffee itself.

The Everwell.com founder and lecturer at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health explains why it is untrue that carbs make you gain weight - news to many thousands of bread and pasta-shunning women - but also goes on to unravel why it is not true that eating carbohydrates will help you to lose weight.

It may also surprise some that organic foods are not necessarily better for you, or that MSG is in fact not harmful. And, for those who have been happily sprinkling expensive sea salt flakes onto their dishes, ordinary table salt contains the same amount of harmful sodium.

The best way to approach restaurant menus, grocery shopping and, of course, coffee shops, is, Davis says, to embrace ambiguity. Avoid fads and fixations and ignore health claim ads on foods - unlike coffee, nutrition answers are 'not black or white.'

Most of all, he says, enjoy food and drink. 'While following sound nutrition advice is important for your good health, it need not spoil your dinner.'

Demystifying food myths - Robert J Davis' truth scale:

UNTRUE
- You need eight glasses of water a day for good health
- Sea salt is more 'healthful' than regular salt
- Detox diets make you healthier
- MSG is harmful
- Carbs make you gain weight

HALF TRUE
- Raw veggies are more nutritious than cooked
- Chocolate is good for you
- Vitamin C fights colds
- Gluten is harmful
- Yoghurt improves digestion

TRUE
- Oats lower cholesterol
- Trans fats are harmful
- A Mediterranean diet is good for you
- Dairy products cause cancer
- Bagged salad should be washed

INCONCLUSIVE
- Grass-fed beef is more 'healthful' than grain-fed beef
- Mercury in sushi is toxic
- Garlic lowers cholesterol
- Tomatoes prevent prostate cancer
- Organic produce is more healthful than conventional produce

Patterns: Coffee May Help Cut Cancer Risk in Women

2011-12-16T10:10:00.002-06:00

By NICHOLAS BAKALAR Published: December 12, 2011, New York Times

More good news for coffee drinkers: A large new study has found that women who drink four or more cups of coffee a day are at reduced risk of endometrial cancer. Endometrial cancer is the most common uterine cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, there are about 46,000 new cases and 8,000 deaths yearly from the disease.

Researchers followed 67,470 women aged 34 to 59 at the start of the study from 1980 to 2006. The women recorded dietary details, lifestyle information and medical history. The study was published online Nov. 22 in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

After controlling for dozens of other factors, the scientists found that compared with women who drank less than one cup of coffee a day, those who drank four or more cups had a 25 percent lower risk of endometrial cancer. Neither decaffeinated coffee nor tea drinking was associated with a risk reduction, and the authors drew no conclusions about whether caffeine or some other ingredient in coffee causes the effect.

The lead author, Youjin Je, a doctoral student at the Harvard School of Public Health, said that for healthy non-pregnant women, drinking four cups of coffee a day has no known negative effects. But, she said, “a substantial amount of sugar, cream or milk added to coffee can negate the potential benefits.”

Can coffee help in anti-aging?

2011-12-12T14:13:00.000-06:00

December 12, 2011

NEW YORK, NY - (IBWire.com December 12, 2011) - For a long time, coffee, like chocolate, has been overlooked as being a healthy food. There has always been a level of skepticism about it and its effect on health. For years, coffee has been associated with unhealthiness. But unknown to many, the correlation between coffee and unhealtinesss is wrongly viewed. If you are one of those skeptics, you may be surprised to know that multiple studies on the effects of coffee revealed that it can provide a number of anti aging benefits. According to these studies, coffee contains two substances which could improve your health, that is antioxidants and caffeine. Both of these substances have great anti aging benefits.

Antioxidants are substances which help the body repair damage to the cells caused by free radicals. Free radicals are molecules produced when your body breaks down food or by environmental exposures such as smoke and radiation. These free radicals can damage cells which could cause prematurely aged skin and other chronic diseases such as cancer. Well in this case, since coffee is rich in antioxidants, it could help the cells repair itself to avoid your body from aging prematurely, both internally and externally.

Caffeine, has also been shown to slow down and even prevent age related brain problems such as Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease and dementia. Numerous studies have shown that people who drink coffee were less likely to experience such age related brain problems during the latter stages of their life as compared to those who do not drink coffee.

Coffee may not be the best available treatment in erasing wrinkles nor hydrating your skin. None the less, drinking coffee regularly alongside other healthy changes in your lifestyle could help you delay the signs of aging. Try considering incorporating coffee to your daily anti aging regimen. We can not deny the benefits we gain from coffee, which by the way can also be used in body and facial skin treatments. Ground coffee is one of the best in skin exfoliation as it helps exfoliates dead cells. It could also help brighten up the skin which could help reduce pigmentations and age spots.

Coffee Much Like Wine on Taste Buds

2011-12-08T13:38:00.000-06:00

By: JASON SMITH, Just Love Coffee Jason@JustLoveCoffee.com.
Posted: Thursday, December 8, 2011 9:52 am

When you take that next sip of your favorite coffee, you taste one of the most complex flavors in the world of food. Currently, there are more than 800 identified compounds in coffee and more are being discovered each year! That makes coffee more complex that wine. It’s no surprise hearing coffee connoisseurs discussing coffee using the same terms as wine aficionados.In fact, the coffee industry has adopted a 100-point scale used by the wine industry to grade coffees. I won’t go into the finer points of that system, but we can delve into the three basic characteristics we consider when we’re cupping a coffee. Fragrance and Aroma OK, so you’re probably saying “Well, duh.” However, it’s important to understand that the fragrance is the smell of the dry grounds, whereas the aroma is the smell of the grounds after they have been soaked with hot water. While both aroma and fragrance are olfactory sensations they can register differently as the water will release different aromatics through the brewing process. Coffee Body The body of a coffee is the sensation of weight on the tongue. It’s similar to the difference of milk on your tongue versus water. This sense of weight is due to the fats and solids that are dissolved in the brew. Darker roasted coffees, such as Sumatra or Ethiopian Harrar, are typically heavier in body than their lighter siblings like Costa Rican, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, or Tanzanian Peaberry. Acidity Acidity is generally assessed once the coffee has cooled down. Coffee is full of tartaric, malic and citric acids that are also found in fruits such as grapes, apples or oranges. These acidity notes will give a noticeable zing on the sides of your tongue that will vary in intensity depending on the coffee. Additionally, you can get notes of the stone fruits like apricots, cherries or plums, which tend to be less acidic tasting and more juicy in nature. The stone fruit notes come out in coffees that have gone through a natural process of removing the pulp and peel from the coffee cherry. How do you get to a point where you can identify these characteristics and distinguish a malic acidity from a tartaric acidity? Practice, practice and more practice. Eat the actual fruits, nuts and other foods that you are attempting to identify in your coffee, noticing where on the tongue you are tasting the food. Then find coffees that are known to be a strong representation of a certain characteristic. Want a good sense of a coffee’s body? Compare a Sumatra with a Costa Rican. For acidity compare a Yirgacheffe (strong citrus notes) with a Rwandan (muted acidity). These extremes will allow you to really notice the far ends of the range and can help the development of your palate. So the next time you’re sipping your favorite coffee roast, stop and focus on the playground your taste buds are playing on in that complex world of coffee.

Coffee may improve memory

2011-12-05T15:04:00.000-06:00

By Kristen Bieyro

Contributing Writer

Published: Sunday, December 4, 2011

According to a study posted online by Nature Neuroscience, caffeine might be affecting a part of our brain which is not normally used to its fullest. This particular part of the brain, known as the hippocampus, tends to effect spatial memory and the way our minds change short-term memories into long term memories.

Though not yet tested on humans, scientists started small by testing on rodents. After giving each varyinge doses of caffeine equivalent to the amount in two cups of coffee, they found a surge in electrical currents in the brain tissue of the hippocampus.

In part of the experiment, it was found the higher the dose of caffeine, the higher amount of currents and activity go to the hippocampus. Scientists believe that with more knowledge of how caffeine affects this part of the brain, they could possibly find ways to cure or alleviate symptoms of brain disorders.

With this in mind, perhaps seeing so many Baruch students holding paper coffee cups is a positive. It could be that all that coffee Baruch students guzzle each day is good for something other than keeping us awake; it's making a difference in the way we learn and remember things.

Baruch senior, Monika Judkins, feels that her morning coffee is just the boost she needs to get her through the day.

"Coffee actually helps me get through the every day things I need to do," she explained, "And I feel it helps me get through them easier."

Sophomore Leanna Bornkamp agrees with Judkins, claiming, "I drink coffee at least two or three times a day, and even though I don't have a lot of memorization work to do for class, coffee definitely helps me stay focused a lot better."

Staying focused during the day to concentrate on work definitely would be helpful for some students. After being informed about the study, Brandon Torre wasn't surprised by the results.

"I know for me, Coffee is definitely essential during the day, especially during class It just helps. Not only to keep me awake, but there's something that makes it easier for me to handle the workload and get things done."

Though many students drink coffee, not everyone believes it is that helpful to their performance in school. Andrew Gargiso, a senior, thinks that coffee really has no effect on him.

"I don't drink it. I never felt like it helped me in any way. I doubt if I started drinking it that it would make me remember better or assist me in any way. I remember by studying."

Though Gargiso makes a point, in time scientists may determine exactly how humans react to caffeine. If the results are similar, then perhaps the extra cup of joe could spark extra activity in human memory. At the very least, it would make those five-dollar lattes students buy do more than make them look pretentious.

Coffee drinkers show lower uterine cancer risk: Study

2011-11-29T10:18:00.000-06:00

Tue Nov 22, 2011

Nov 23 (Reuters) - Women who drink four or more cups of coffee a day may have a reduced risk of developing cancer in the lining of their uterus, according to a U.S. study. Researchers who looked at more than 67,000 U.S. nurses found that women who drank that much coffee were one-quarter less likely to develop endometrial cancer than women who averaged less than a cup a day, said the study, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
The absolute risk that any one woman, coffee drinker or not, would develop the cancer was fairly small, with only 672 women -- or one percent of the study group -- being diagnosed with it over 26 years.
While researchers could also not say for certain that coffee was the reason for the lower risk among those who drank a lot of coffee, the study adds to several others with similar results.

Coffee itself may have some benefits, said senior researcher Edward Giovannucci, of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.
"It can lower insulin levels and may lower levels of free estrogen circulating in the body," he added.
Higher concentrations of insulin and higher lifetime exposure to estrogen have both been linked to a higher risk of endometrial cancer.

Researchers looked at a number of other factors, such as differences in women's weight, since obesity is also linked to a higher risk of endometrial cancer, but that did not account for the lower cancer risk seen among coffee drinkers.

Nor did differences in women's childbirth history or hormone use, though birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy after menopause. Of course, downing four cups of coffee a day may not be a good idea, especially for someone sensitive to the effects of caffeine. The researchers found that while caffeinated coffee was tied to a lower cancer risk, there was no statistically significant link with decaf -- though there was a "suggestive" trend in that direction. In theory, adding sugar and cream to coffee could be bad for the waistline. With obesity also tied to a higher risk of the cancer, that could wipe out any potential benefit of coffee drinking. "It would be premature to make a recommendation that women drink coffee to lower their endometrial cancer risk," Giovannucci said.

The bottom line, he said, is that people who are already enjoying their coffee can probably continue to do so - but the biggest preventative for the cancer is maintaining a healthy weight through diet and regular exercise.
SOURCE: bit.ly/tFGByG (Reporting from New York by Amy Norton at Reuters Health; editing by Elaine Lies)

Better Buy Your SHB Arabica Coffee Now!

2011-11-04T13:37:00.001-06:00

Bloomberg
Coffee Stockpiles to Hold Near 11-Year Lows Amid Colombian Rain

November 04, 2011

By Heather Walsh

Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Coffee stockpiles may remain near 11- year lows into next year as Colombia’s Arabica harvest fails to meet forecasts, contributing to a “scarcity” of the bean favored by brewers including Starbucks Corp.

Colombia’s year-end coffee crop is falling below “expected volumes” amid “strong” global demand for coffee, said Jorge Vasquez, chairman of Colombia’s National Association of Coffee Exporters, in an interview yesterday in Cartagena, Colombia.

“There is a scarcity of coffee worldwide,” he said. In Colombia “you haven’t seen the expected volumes.”

Colombia, the second-largest grower of Arabica coffee beans after Brazil, will produce its smallest crop in two years in 2011 after above-average rainfall damaged plants, according to Vasquez. The harvest will likely slide to as low as 8.5 million bags this year, from last year’s 8.9 million bags, he said.

Arabica-coffee futures for December delivery fell 7 cents to $2.2615 a pound as of 8:17 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York.

--Editors: Dale Crofts, Robin Saponar
To contact the reporter on this story: Heather Walsh at hlwalsh@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net

Blogger's note: Costa Rica Also

Tank up on java, unleash your inner editor, says study

2011-10-28T18:24:00.002-05:00

Let this be a lesson to us: A good dose of caffeine may improve editing.

By Cari Nierenberg

Alberto Pizzoli / AFP - Getty Images file

You probably count on your daily jolt of caffeine to wake up your brain and stay sharp all day long. But downing that coffee, tea, cola, or chocolate bar may be giving you a leg up in another unexpected way: It can improve your proofreading skills, according to a new study.

Caffeine seems to enhance performance of some of the brain's complex processes that rely on the right hemisphere, such as extracting meaning from language that's written or spoken, says study author Tad Brunye, a senior cognitive scientist at the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center in Natick, Mass. "And you don't need excessively large doses to do so," he explains.

In the study, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, researchers asked 36 college students who consumed low levels of caffeine -- about a half-cup of coffee a day -- to do a "language task." The students were given 5 minutes to read a one-page news story, and needed to identify and correct as many spelling and grammatical mistakes as they found in that time.

Forty-five minutes before taking the proofreading test, students were randomly given a capsule containing one of four doses of caffeine: none, 100 milligrams (the amount found in 8-ounces brewed coffee), 200 milligrams (found in 16-ounces coffee), or 400 milligrams (found in 20-ounces of coffee).

In a second study, researchers repeated the same experiment with 38 college students who consumed higher levels of caffeine each day. The java junkies typically had at least 300 milligrams of caffeine daily, roughly three 8-ounce cups of joe.

Caffeine only seemed to make a difference in the student's ability to spot and fix "complex global errors." These were mistakes in subject-and-verb agreement (for example, billionaire inventor Tony Stark enjoy a lavish lifestyle) and verb tense (for example, customers were misled into believing they had got approved for low interest loans).

The low-caffeine crowd was best at finding and correcting these grammatical goofs at 200 milligrams of caffeine. But it took more in the highly caffeinated -- 400 milligrams -- to achieve the highest detection rates.

Interestingly, caffeine didn't affect the students' skill at finding and correcting misspelled words. And it had no effect on noticing mistakes in words that sound alike, such as weather and whether or seams and seems.

"Individuals who habitually consume caffeine on a daily basis are less likely to benefit from caffeine's performance advantages without upping the dose," Brunye says.

So if you're great at finding the grammatical mistakes that occasionally occur in Body Odd posts, we'll assume your caffeine has kicked in.

Daily coffee may lower your skin cancer risk

2011-10-25T14:54:00.001-05:00

By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay

Your morning coffee might do more than jump-start your day. Researchers say that daily caffeine jolt might also reduce your risk of developing a type of skin cancer.

Basal cell carcinoma is the most common form of skin cancer, with nearly one million new cases diagnosed each year in the United States. A diet that contains even a small protective factor may have great public health impact, the researchers said.

"Our study indicates that coffee consumption may be an important option to help prevent basal cell carcinoma," said lead researcher Fengju Song, a postdoctoral fellow in the department of dermatology at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. "The amount of caffeine consumption was inversely associated with risk," Song said, meaning the more coffee consumed, the lower the risk of skin cancer. The study could not prove cause-and-effect, however, and at this point the finding remains an association only.

Decaffeinated coffee was not associated with a decreased risk of basal cell carcinoma, and the researchers said any protective effect would likely be because of caffeine, a stimulant. The study authors also expressed surprise that coffee did not reduce the risk of two other types of skin cancer, squamous cell carcinoma and the less common but potentially deadly melanoma.

Earlier experiments in mice found caffeine helped reduce the development of squamous cell carcinoma by eliminating cells damaged by ultraviolet radiation, but that effect was not seen in the current study.

The results were scheduled for presentation Monday at an American Association for Cancer Research International Conference in Boston. For the study, Song's team collected data on nearly 113,000 adults -- almost 73,000 women who took part in the U.S. Nurses' Health Study and almost 40,000 men who were part of the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study.

Over more than 20 years of follow-up, more than 25,000 cases of skin cancer were diagnosed among the men and women in the studies. Of these, about 23,000 were basal cell carcinoma, about 2,000 were squamous cell cancer and 741 were melanoma. The researchers found that women who drank more than three cups of coffee a day had a 20 percent lower risk of developing basal cell carcinoma compared with women who drank less than one cup of coffee in a month.

For men, the risk was 9 percent lower for those who drank three cups of java daily compared with those who drank less than one cup a month, Song's group noted. The risk for women who drank the most coffee was lowered 18 percent; for men who downed the most coffee, the risk was reduced 13 percent, Song's team found.

Additional studies exploring the mechanism behind this association are needed, Song said. People who spend a lot of time in the sun are more likely than others to develop skin cancer, but coffee's role in prevention is still not understood. Dr. Robert S. Kirsner, professor and vice chairman of dermatology and cutaneous surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said the findings "could open a new avenue of developing chemo-prevention for non-melanoma skin cancer."

However, Kirsner doesn't advise starting to drink coffee solely to prevent skin cancer.

Although basal cell carcinoma is rarely fatal, there may be consequences of treatment, including disfigurement, especially if it is ignored, he said. Because it is so common, the cost of treating basal cell carcinomas is "huge," he added. Prevention would affect overall health funding.

Also, some evidence suggests that having one type of skin cancer makes other cancers more likely, Kirsner said. "The obvious ones are other skin cancers, but also non-skin cancers, for example, lymphoma or testicular cancer. "The question is, is this just by chance, or is it a shared risk factor, or is it something basal cell carcinoma induces that makes it more likely for those cancers to develop?" he said.

"Preventing a basal cell carcinoma may have other benefits than just preventing that cancer," Kirsner added. Research presented at meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

On the Web:(AT) www.cancer.org/, the American Cancer Society has more information on skin cancer.

----

.How to Green Your Cup of Coffee

2011-10-24T17:23:00.000-05:00

by Mary Mazzoni
Published on October 24th, 2011, Earth911.com

If your morning routine wouldn’t be complete without a cup of coffee, you’re not alone. An estimated 56 percent of American adults consumed coffee daily in 2010, according to the National Coffee Association.

But the industry’s impact on the environment and human welfare is making headlines. So, is there a way to make your morning cup kinder and greener without giving up the habit entirely? We say, absolutely. Here are some tips to help you green that cup o’ Joe.

Photo: Flickr/"The Wanderer's Eye"

Americans consume an estimated 400 million cups of coffee every day, making the U.S. the largest coffee consumer in the world, according to the National Coffee Association.

All about the beans

You know you’re in the market for eco products, but it can be tough to decide which labels to reach for. Staring down an aisle of organic, local and fair items can make any shopper feel a little overwhelmed. Which one will taste better? Which is cheaper? And most importantly, which is better for human welfare and the environment? As always, the decision is up to you. But here are some things to consider when choosing your next cup.

When it comes to coffee, you can usually scratch locally-grown off your list of possibilities. Since coffee beans require subtropical climates and high altitudes to flourish, there aren’t many ideal locations in the U.S. Only a lucky few Americans have access to true, locally-grown coffee (we have to admit, we’re a little jealous).

Well, if I can’t buy local, what should I do? Choosing organic coffee ensures that no agrochemicals, pesticides and other chemical additives were used to produce your morning cup. It’s also said to be tastier and better for your bod.

Many organic coffees are also labeled as “shade grown”- meaning coffee plants were grown under the cover of rainforest canopy, allowing soil to retain a nutrient base and resist depletion. Both organic and shade-grown growing practices help to preserve the native environment and help shrink the footprint of your iced latte.

Buying Fair Trade vs. Local

Fair trade refers to a system of buying and selling goods in a way that workers, farmers and communities are paid a fair wage. Fair trade requirements also prohibit child labor and ensure that small farmers are guaranteed a minimum price for their goods. Just because a coffee isn’t labeled “fair trade” doesn’t necessarily mean coffee-growers were treated poorly. But reaching for a fair trade item is a good way to be sure your dollars are going towards coffee with a conscience.

Fair trade and organic coffees used to be sold mostly online and in specialty stores, but more and more conventional retailers are carrying these products. Check out the coffee aisle at your local grocery store for organic and fair trade options. Not all fair trade coffees are organic, but it’s usually pretty easy to find a coffee that’s both.

READ: Fair Trade Products More Popular at U.S. Mainstream Stores

What about the grounds?

Groggily picking yesterday’s ground-filled filter out of the coffee machine and tossing it in the trash is mostly muscle memory for many of us. But resist the temptation to trash your grounds, and compost them instead.

Coffee grounds are great food for your garden and houseplants, but separating the grounds from the filter can become an icky mess. If you want to keep your fingers clean and your footprint light, take the easy road and toss the whole thing into the compost bin – filter and all.

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. Coffee filters are compostable! And they’re actually as good for your compost pile as fruits and veggies, according to the EPA.

5 Reasons to Drink Coffee

2011-10-07T15:44:00.000-05:00

By Delia Lloyd, American journalist/blogger based in London

Ever have one of those mornings where you wake up, jump in the shower, turn on the radio and hear the best news you've gotten in ages? No, not world peace, but close. Apparently, coffee is now good for you. It holds a host of physical -- not to mention psychological -- benefits which scientists are only now beginning to appreciate. In a household where our espresso machine holds a hallowed place, this is definitely grounds for rejoicing. I haven't been this excited since I learned that sugar made a comeback.

So hear ye, hear ye: Five reasons to drink (more!) coffee:
1. It reduces depression in women. This just in. A new study out of Harvard University shows that women who regularly drink coffee -- the fully caffeinated kind -- have a 20 percent lower risk of depression than nondrinkers. This comes on the heels of previous research showing that the risk of suicide decreases with increased coffee consumption.
2. It lowers the risk of lethal prostate cancer in men. But it's not just the ladies who will benefit from more java. In another study out of Harvard (what are they drinking there? ahem!), men who drank six or more cups per day had a 60 percent lower risk of developing the most lethal type of prostate cancer, and a 20 percent lower risk of forming any type of prostate cancer compared to men who did not drink coffee. Given that prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men, that's nothing to sneeze at.
3. It may protect against head and neck cancers. A study from the University of Utah showed that people who drank more than four cups of coffee a day had a 39 percent decreased risk of cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx combined, compared with those who didn't drink coffee. Regular consumption of coffee has also been linked to a lower risk for brain tumors, reduced rates of colorectal and endometrial cancer, as well as liver cancer and cirrhosis.
4. It may ward off Alzheimer's disease. Several studies looking at how caffeine affects brain development in mice have confirmed that caffeine significantly decreases abnormal levels of the protein linked to Alzheimer's disease. When aged mice bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer's disease were given caffeine -- the equivalent of five cups of coffee a day -- their memory impairment was reversed, according to a report issued by the Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Centre. Should these results be replicated on humans, it might suggest coffee as an effective treatment for this disease, rather than just a protective strategy.
5. It appears to stave off diabetes. Numerous studies have shown that coffee may be protective against Type 2 Diabetes, although the precise mechanism is not well understood. An analysis in the Archives of Internal Medicine, for example, found that people who drink three to four cups of coffee a day are 25 percent less likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than those who drink fewer than two cups. In the U.S. alone, nearly 24 million children and adults -- nearly 8 percent of the population -- have diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of the disease and accounts for about 90 to 95 percent of these cases.
Whether these studies will prove robust in coming years -- or be cancelled out by some of caffeine's adverse effects on things like sleep and high blood pressure -- remains to be seen.
But I'm going to blithely hedge my bets and carry on enjoying my cuppa (or two).
Latte or Cappucino?

Drinking coffee reduces the likelihood of having a stroke

2011-09-27T14:00:00.000-05:00

26/09/2011

Drinking three to four cups of coffee a day may reduce your risk of suffering from a stroke according to research by Larsson SC.

The study of half a million people found that drinking two cups of coffee could reduce the risk of stroke by 14%, whereas drinking three or four cups of coffee could reduce the risk by 17%.

The research showed variations between men and women and unfortunately for female coffee lovers, the optimum benefit they can gain from coffee was by drinking two cups, any more and risk of a stroke actually started to increase.

Men however can benefit from drinking three to four cups of coffee per day to reduce their risk of having a stroke.It’s estimated that about 150,000 people have a stroke in the UK each year. If you are concerned about your health it might be advisable to look into private medical insurance.

According to one health insurer’s research, 59% of people say that they would consider paying to be seen privately if it meant they were diagnosed quicker. Just over half of those questioned said that they believe that they will need to wait for longer to be treated under the new government reforms.

Changes to the way that the NHS operates and a proposed squeeze in budgets are having a negative effect on the nation’s view of the National Health Service.45% of people believe that they will be denied treatment altogether by the NHS because of the new government changes.

The number of people who have been on an NHS waiting list for longer than 6 weeks has quadrupled in the space of a year. Statistics from the Department of Health show that in June there were 12,521 people waiting more than 6 weeks for one of 15 key tests. The research found that 9% of people pay for private medical insurance themselves and almost 20% of people currently have employers that cover the costs for them.“It is staggering that 45% believe they may be denied treatment at some point in the future, while over half feel they may need to wait longer for treatment,” said Dr Pixie McKenna, known as one of the resident doctors from Channel 4 TV show Embarrassing Bodies. “Extended waiting times can often lead to an increase in stress and anxiety, placing more pressure on individuals who are already worried."

Dr Ryan Mehta, Clinical Project Director, Bupa Health and Wellbeing UK, commented: “The take away message from this study is moderation. The research suggests that there is an optimum level of coffee consumption, which differs between men and women. Any more than this and the benefit is lost and the risks start to increase."

To read the study click here.

Coffee cuts depression risk in women

2011-09-26T18:27:00.000-05:00

Those who drank 3 cups of coffee a day were 15 percent less likely to develop the mental illness

By Rachael Rettner

Drinking coffee may lower women's risk of depression, a new study says.

Women in the study who drank two to three cups of caffeinated coffee a day were 15 percent less likely to develop depression over a 10-year period compared to those who drank one cup of coffee or less per week.The researchers cautioned, however, that the new study only shows an association between coffee consumption and depression risk, and cannot prove that drinking coffee reduces risk of depression in women.

The study, which included more than 50,000 women in the United States, is the largest of its kind, the researchers, from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, said.

The findings are in line with earlier studies that have found a link between moderate coffee consumption and a reduced risk of suicide.

The new study is just the latest to suggest coffee consumption has health benefits. Earlier work has found an association between drinking coffee and a reduced risk of breast cancer, prostate cancer and stroke.

"Taken together, these results reassure coffee drinkers that there seem to exist no glaringly deleterious health consequences to coffee consumption," Dr. Seth Berkowitz, wrote in an editor's note accompanying the new study.

Because the study only shows a correlation between coffee and the risk of depression, it's too soon for doctors to recommend coffee consumption to patients, Berkowitz said.

The study is published in the Sept. 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

Coffee-powered car in world land speed record claim

2011-09-15T15:47:00.000-05:00

A coffee-powered car driven at 66mph (106km/h) may have set a world land speed record.

The Carpaccino reached the speed at Elvington airfield near York in an attempt at setting a record for vehicles powered by burning waste.

Dried pellets of coffee grounds powered the 35-year-old Rover, driven by Martin Bacon, who runs Teesdale Conservation Volunteers in Barnard Castle.

The record has yet to be confirmed by Guinness World Records.

The coffee-powered car uses a process called gasification which Mr Bacon, from County Durham, said was used in World War II because of the lack of fuel.

'Smells like fire'

He said he needed an old car because the process needs a carburetor.

"The trouble with a lot of modern cars is that they've got far too many sensors on, they're all fuel-injection," he said.

The used coffee granules are made into pellets which are then burned and a flammable gas drawn off.

The car uses this gas as it is produced, although Mr Bacon said the exhaust smells "like a house fire" rather than coffee.

He said the record attempt was partly "a bit of fun" but also intended to make a serious point that waste can produce energy.

In March 2010 Mr Bacon achieved the Guinness World Record for the longest journey by a coffee-powered car, when he drove 210 miles

Mazzaglia: Cappuccino's Arabic origins

2011-09-12T17:42:00.000-05:00

By Frank Mazzaglia/Local columnist

The MetroWest Daily News

Posted Sep 11, 2011 @ 12:22 AM

If you enjoy starting your morning with a cup of sweet-tasting cappuccino coffee and a richly flavored croissant, tomorrow, Sept. 12, is a day to remember. Coffee lovers and people who like "Continental" breakfasts have reason to lift a cup to a tradition whose roots trace back to a time dating back hundreds of years. For legend has it that this was the day, back in 1683, that cappuccino and the croissant were created. This is how it happened.
After many years and many attempts to capture the grand old Christian city of Vienna, the Turks were finally on the verge of victory. Commanded by the Grand Vizier, Kara Mustafa, an estimated quarter of a million men of the Ottoman army surrounded the city. For two long months, Turkish cannons fired against the city's protective walls. Finally, a portion of the wall crumbled and the fortifications outside the wall were captured. Now it was only a matter of time.
Given the city's dismal military circumstances, Mustafa's over-confidence was understandable. That's probably why he didn't notice so many campfires on the hills a few miles north of Vienna. After all, there was no way he could have known that Pope Alexander VIII had persuaded Polish King John Sobielski to send aid to the beleaguered city. The Pope even assigned a Capuchin friar named Marco d'Aviano to serve as his emissary and ensure cooperation among the various Christian commanders.
At dawn on Sept. 12, some 80,000 Christian soldiers, led by Charles of Lorraine, charged down on horseback upon the unsuspecting Turks. The fierce battle lasted for 15 hours. By evening, the routed Ottoman army was fleeing through Hungary, and out of the Balkans and toward Turkey as fast as they could move. Vienna was rescued.
As night fell, however, the victorious army discovered vast stores of Turkish coffee. The trouble is that it was much too bitter for their taste. Legend has it that the Capuchin friar, Marco d'Aviano, suggested that the celebrating soldiers should sweeten their new concoction with milk and honey until it accommodated their sense buds. At the same time, the city's bakers commemorated the Austrian victory by creating a new pastry for the hungry soldiers to go with the coffee. The new delicacy was baked in the form of a crescent moon from the Turkish flag. They called it a Kipfel, which is German for crescent. The brown coffee somewhat matched the color of the Capuchin's habit and so, the legend has it, the soldiers named their tasty drink "cappuccino."
Some people claim that the cappuccino legend is just a myth and nothing more. Nonetheless, Marco d'Aviano was beatified in 2003. The first actual patent for espresso machines that brewed cappuccino wasn't awarded until 1901, to a coffee lover named Luigi Bezzara of Milan. The method worked well enough but needed improvement. A variety of innovations over the next 50 years brought cappuccino to its present form.
Cappuccino is made in a steam-producing espresso machine. The bottom third of the cup is espresso. This is followed by a similar amount of hot milk in the center of the drink. It is then topped with sweet milk foam. Cinnamon, sugar, or other flavored spices are then sprinkled above the coffee. In Italy, as in many other places in the world, cappuccino is an important morning breakfast drink. Espresso is favored later in the day. Here in the United States, however, Americans drink cappuccino throughout the day.
Historians still argue about how cappuccino got to Europe. We do know that a good deal of our culture has Arabic origins. Crusaders are said to have discovered Gregorian chant from Arabic music. Guitars, algebra, and even optics come to us from the Middle East.
All of these Arabic contributions hold value, but what would we do without the magical pleasures of that morning cup of cappuccino?
Frank Mazzaglia can be reached at Frankwrote@aol.com.

Superfoods to Feed Your Skin

2011-08-27T12:34:00.000-05:00

Coffee and chocolate have always been under the microscope but for different reasons. Dark chocolate is often hailed for its powerful antioxidant properties while coffee is full of that get up and go juice also known as caffeine- a widely researched chemical in well being. But researches in separate studies are taking a closer look at potential benefits coming from the kitchen cabinet ingredients.
Researchers at Quebec’s Laval University’s Institute of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods are looking into chocolate and its relationship with UV light. Right now, researchers are gathering fair-skinned female volunteers to eat three squares of chocolate, everyday, for 12 weeks. The idea behind it is that polyphenols, a chemical found in chocolate, has been known to increase blood flow to the skin which can help protect against damaging UV light. The women will be exposed to UV light and scientist will monitor their damage. If polyphenols are indeed increased, the group of women that have been eating chocolate should have a smaller degree of UV damage compared to the control group.
While the study in Quebec is still looking for volunteers, researchers at Rutgers University have just finished up their own study that shows that caffeine is also good at fighting UV damage. The study, found in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, shows that caffeine guards against certain skin cancers at the molecular level, by inhibiting a protein enzyme in the skin known as ATR. It namely focused on ATR, a protein enzyme that’s inhibited by caffeine.
The research is building on an older study where mice drank caffeinated water. The caffeinated mice that were exposed to UVB radiation were able to kill off a greater percentage of their badly-damaged cells, and reduce the risk of cells developing cancer. In the new study, researchers genetically modified one group of mice to reduce the protein enzyme ATR, and then exposed them and a group of unmodified mice to ultraviolet light. The result was genetically-modified mice developed tumors more slowly than unmodified mice; had 69 percent fewer tumors than regular mice; and developed four times fewer invasive tumors.
Allan Conney of the department of chemical biology at Rutgers University notes “All of this suggests the possibility that caffeine, possibly [applied to the skin], would have an inhibitory effect on sunlight-induced skin cancer. In addition to the effects on the ATR pathway, caffeine also has sunscreening properties.”
These results were created on a genetic level but researchers will now look into whether or not caffeine applied to the outside of the skin will have the same effect in protection.
For now, we’re still awaiting added research into these ingredients from a convenient topical application standpoint. Maybe in the near future you’ll be slathering mocha frappuccino sunscreens on your body, but I’m not sure if people are going to want to walk around smelling like a Starbucks.

Britain's caffeine boom: Why can't we wake up without smelling the coffee?

2011-08-23T17:45:00.000-05:00

We now spend more on coffee in a year than we do on our energy bills – and as the price of beans rises, we respond by becoming ever more fussy about our drinks.

By John Walsh

Tuesday, 23 August 2011

EPA

Bean there: A branch of the ubiquitous Starbucks

In the classic science-fiction novel The Space Merchants by Frederick Pohl and CM Kornbluth, published in 1952, an overpopulated Earth is run by giant multinational companies, the population is kept in ignorance of its parlous state by giant advertising agencies and the workforce is fed on slices of synthetic protein called Chicken Little, washed down by something called Coffiest.

In this blandly zomboid future-world, everyone drinks Coffiest, day and night. It's mandatory. And it's addictive. Let the book's protagonist, Mitchell Courtnay, explain: "...each sample of Coffiest contains three milligrams of a simple alkaloid. Nothing harmful. But definitely habit-forming. After 10 weeks the customer is hooked for life. It would cost him at least five thousand dollars for a cure, so it's simpler for him to go right on drinking Coffiest – three cups with every meal and a pot beside his bed at night, just as it says on the jar."

Can you imagine being so addicted to a warm beverage? So hooked that you drink it all the time, several times a day, at home, on the way to work, at the workplace, at lunchtime, at tea...?

Oh no, hang on, we're doing just that already. We're now drinking coffee as never before. Every week, across the UK, we consume 511 millions cups of coffee – almost half of them in the franchises that dominate the nation's high streets and shopping malls.

A few years ago, Starbucks ran a TV commercial that encouraged coffee-lovers to think of their high street outlets as a second home – somewhere to relax, read the papers, meet your partner or write a novel on your Vaio laptop. Now the coffee lover has a second, third and fourth home in which to kick back. If Starbucks loses its charm, he can transfer his laid-back allegiance to Caffè Concerto, Caffè Nero, Costa Coffee, Coffee Republic or Caffè Ritazza.

Visitors to Westfield, the giant shopping mall in west London, can choose between eighteen different outlets, that include two Starbucks, a Ca'puccino, a Love Coffee, an Apostrophe and an Espressamente Illy. You think there are too many? The Commons Speaker's errant wife, Sally Bercow, recently went on Radio 4's Today programme to discuss the fate of high street clothing shops. "They should wake up and smell the coffee," she said, darkly, "because they'll all end up being coffee franchises sooner or later."

How did we become so enslaved? We all know people who proclaim that they cannot face the world, cannot think straight, cannot recognise elementary shapes, simply cannot operate until they've had their first hit of Taylor's Rich Italian Dark Roast in the morning. We're used to seeing the Starbucks Claw phenomenon – the hand of an otherwise ordinary-seeming mortal, clutched around a carton of skinny latte (or whatever) as he or she wanders dazedly down the street, like a large baby unable to leave off sucking a teat.

I've lost count of the people on Desert Island Discs (Sir Simon Rattle was one, John Cale of the Velvet Underground another) who've asked for an Italian coffee machine and grinder as the greatest luxury they can think of.

Why do we queue at Starbucks for hot milky drinks which have only traces of caffeine in them? Because we're addicted to the whole procedure behind the Costa bar; the steaming, the percolating, the drip-feed of richness, the warm milky smoothness of the result, the fugitive aromas of vanilla, caramel, honey, nuts and chocolate. Like the Lotos-eaters in Homer's Odyssey, we enter an altered, milk-fed state, forgetful of friends, home and all sense of urgency.

And we seem to be heedless of its alarming cost. According to research, coffee gourmets spend £2,000 a year on the stuff, while merely everyday drinkers spend £450 a year – more than they shell out on the average person's domestic electricity bill.

And it's not just some yoof-culture phenomenon: the over-55s ladle an average of 15 cups a week down their gullets. You'd think the mature drinker would know better. But then, we've always been a bit excessive when it comes to Coffea arabica.

The first people who tried roasting coffee beans in liquid were Sufi mystics in 13th-century Yemen. The wine they drank at religious ceremonies made them sleepy and they needed a substitute that kept them awake and able to handle the long hours of prayer: coffee was a perfect solution. From Yemen it spread across the Middle East and North Africa, borne by Muslim pilgrims and dervishes. English travellers in antique lands noted sourly its prevalence among the unwashed: Anthony Sherley wrote in 1599 about meeting "damned infidels drinking a certaine liquor, which they do call Coffe". European historians have long disputed which country first played host to the noble bean. According to Alan Davidson in The Penguin Companion To Food, France was the true pioneer. The first coffee shops sprang up in Paris in 1672. At the fabulous parties thrown in the late 1680s by the Turkish ambassador, the city's grandes dames were served "the choicest Mocha coffee in tiny cups of eggshell porcelain, hot strong and fragrant, poured out in saucers of gold and silver, placed on embroidered silk doylies fringed with gold bullion" by "the black slaves of the Ambassador..."

A far cry from Caffè Nero, isn't it? The UK's first coffee house was opened in Oxford in 1650 by a Turkish Jew called Jacob. The first of a million London coffee houses was opened two years later in the City of London by the east-European Pasqua Rosee. The London Stock Exchange started life as Jonathan's Coffee House in Change Alley, where merchants and entrepreneurs used to meet to talk finance. By 1675, there were 3,000 coffee houses in England – despite the hostility of King Charles II, who suspected they might be hotbeds of sedition and tried to remove their licences (but there was such an outcry, he was forced to withdraw his plans).

Now there are 14,022 coffee shops in the UK and they brought their owners £5bn last year. That's a year-on-year increase of 12.9 per cent.

This trend can't continue, can it? Oh yes it can. More and more branded coffee franchises are scheduled to open. There were 4,645 Costas and Starbucks and Republics and Ritazzas in the UK last year. By the end of 2013, it is conservatively estimated that there will be 5,719 of them. And there are two other trends that should give the everyday coffee drinker pause. One is price and the other is sophistication.

The price of coffee beans has increased alarmingly and will continue to do so. It virtually doubled in the last 12 months – and nobody quite knows why. They're lost in the murky depths of global commodity markets.

Coffee drinkers (and growers) found they had an unlikely champion in the shape of Howard Schultz, chief executive of Starbucks, in May this year when he publicly denounced the price increase. "The price of coffee is at a 34-year high," he told Channel 4. "We're seeing a hundred per cent rise. I could understand it if there were some supply and demand issue, or some climate problem, but we don't see any. I've had conversations with people who grow and export coffee and it seems that what's driving these record prices is speculation. We don't [know] which hedge funds and index funds have been engaged in this speculation because there's no transparency. But there will be a ton of money made here and the people who most deserve to profit from it – the coffee farmers – won't get it."

Starbucks decided it would be harmful to its customers to raise prices across the board, so it didn't; then again, it is already charging £3.45 for a venti white caffè mocha. But it knows it cannot hold out for long, because the world's demand for coffee is increasing.

Last year, global consumption went up by 2.5 per cent. It can only increase further, because of a crucial change in the world coffee market: China and India have woken up and sniffed the Java. The number of coffee houses in China will triple in the next three years. Tea consumption in India has declined ever since the subcontinent's population discovered the lure of the bean, the roast and the cafetière.

As demand rises, traditional suppliers in Brazil and Columbia will struggle to match it – and the price to the coffee shops will consequently rise and rise. The Costas and Starbucks which buy the beans won't be able to maintain their old prices without cutting into their profits, so the cost to coffee drinkers will rise exponentially. We will, in other words, pay much more for our caffeine-based addiction in the future. And will we cut down on our coffee consumption? Will we hell.

The other trend will fit in nicely. It's a new culture of coffee sophistication that's now commonplace in America and will be joining us shortly. From New York to Los Angeles, there's a new breed of coffee snob, who looks with disdain on "foamed-milk beverages" and aspires to being a connoisseur of Pure Coffee. He (or she) can discourse airily about "single estate" coffee, made with beans from a single country or a single farm. Cafédirect, the UK's first (and largest) Fairtrade drinks brand, has recently brought out an appealing range of single-origin coffee, from Machu Picchu in Peru, Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Mayan Palenque in Mexico.

The new coffee snob also has passionate views about the benefits of light, medium and dark roasts and the long, unfolding aftertastes they can give you. Try reading the ecstatic posts about Pure Coffee on foodie websites such as chowhound.com ("Blue Bottle was nothing like anything I'd tasted before – deep, intense, surging with crazy flavours. Long, enormous narrative tails – multi-minute-long aftertastes, with wild trips through citrus flavors, spice flavours, funky meaty flavors... Madness, insanity, depth, beauty and wonder in a cup") and you glimpse a new world in which coffee varietals will be soon be treasured – and bought and sold – like first-growth claret or single-malt whisky.

Coffee – it's the new Chateau Margaux; the new Macallan.

A month ago, I sat having breakfast in a Los Angeles restaurant and idly picked up a "Coffee List". It went on for pages. It encouraged you to select your choice of bean. Then – get this – to choose which brewing method you wanted: aeropressing, French oppressing, vacuum pot, drip and a few others. The lady proprietor hovered like a sommeliere, anxious to steer me in the right direction. Weak from jetlag and a gnawing desire for bacon and eggs, I said: "I'll just have a cappuccino, thanks." Wordlessly, but with a look that suggested I was wasting her vast expertise, she flipped the pages to the front, to reveal that there were at least a dozen frothy-milk breakfast beverages for the amateur coffee-drinker to choose from. I felt about three inches high. That's how much coffee has conquered the world. It's not enough just to be addicted to it. You have to worship the stuff, as well.

Does Coffee Cut Skin Cancer Risk?

2011-08-16T13:21:00.000-05:00

Coffee has been shown to reduce the risk of skin cancer by helping kill off damaged cells that could otherwise turn into tumors, according to a new U.S. study. The findings indicate that moderate caffeine drinking, or perhaps even applying coffee to the skin, could be useful in warding off non-melanoma cancer, the most commonly diagnosed of all skin cancers.

Using mice that had been genetically altered to suppress a protein enzyme called ATR, researchers showed that the mice were able to fend off cancer even when exposed to ultraviolet light.

Previous studies have suggested that drinking about a cup of caffeinated coffee per day has the effect of suppressing ATR and triggering the die-off of cells harmed by UV rays.

The altered mice eventually did develop cancer, but three weeks later than normal mice, according to the study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

After 19 weeks of ultraviolet light exposure, the engineered mice showed 69 percent fewer tumors and four times fewer invasive tumors than the control group. However, the protective effects only went so far. After 34 weeks of UV exposure, all the mice developed tumors.

"Eventually, if you treat them long enough, the mice will develop cancer so it is not 100 percent protection forever," Allan Conney, one of the study's authors, told AFP. "Really, with almost any carcinogen, eventually all the animals will develop tumors," added Conney, who is director of the Susan Lehman Cullman Laboratory for Cancer Research at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Conney and his team were able to confirm their hypothesis that caffeine — when consumed or applied to the skin — works by inhibiting ATR. Now they say more studies are needed to see how it may work on humans.

"We want to see whether caffeine has an effect in people when you give it topically," he said.

"Caffeine might become a weapon in prevention because it inhibits ATR and also acts as a sunscreen and directly absorbs damaging UV light." Skin cancer is the most prevalent cancer in the United States, with more than one million new cases each year, according to the National Cancer Institute. Non-melanoma types of skin cancer, including basal cell and squamous cell types, are the most commonly diagnosed and are often treatable if detected early.

Previous studies have shown coffee drinkers tend to have fewer incidences of breast, uterine, prostate, and colon cancers, but the beneficial effects are not seen in people who drink decaffeinated coffee.

Need Fiber? Have Coffee with That Oatmeal

2011-08-15T13:37:00.000-05:00

Source: Chuggin Mccoffee

As you watch the enticing brown brew fill your coffee pot as it also fills the air with heavy aroma, the rich brown liquid looks deceptively clear. But hidden in that delicious cup is a surprising nutrient that even amazed scientists. Yes, yet another health benefit, that of soluble fiber, is provided by our humble daily coffee.

Chuggin Mccoffee reported on the fiber in coffee this week, though the study which originally announced this discovery occurred four years ago. Still, it’s news to some of us, since it isn’t the kind of thing that makes all the coffee newsletters as does say, a controversial Starbucks marketing strategy masquerading as a “personal research project.” Regardless, there is necessary fiber in your coffee, but before you get too excited, be forewarned, you still need to eat your oatmeal, fruits and veggies.

There is more fiber in instant (freeze-dried) coffee than in either drip or espresso. The filtered brew method brings out the least of the three. With the average coffee drinker downing 3.2 cups a day, and with the espresso (the average of the fiber totals) providing 1.5 grams per cup, the average coffee drinker increases daily fiber by about five grams. Women need 25 grams per day, men 38. So it would be necessary to drink at least 17 cups a day to get all your fiber from coffee, as the article pointed out.

Of course, that’s unnecessary, as there are many delicious ways to obtain soluble fiber. Whole grains, nuts, fruits and veggies are other foods we need to eat daily for many reasons. A bowl of oatmeal, garnished with walnuts and raisins, accompanied by a cup of coffee starts the day off with loads of fiber. If you were thinking orange juice, coffee beats the fruit juice in the fiber count. On the other hand, there is no justification for counting that hazelnut latte as a serving of high fiber nuts.

So get your daily fiber, and brew on……in good health.

Coffee May Reduce Breast Cancer Risk

2011-08-12T17:18:00.000-05:00

Postmenopausal women who drink over five cups of coffee per day may have a reduced risk of breast cancer, according to a new study.

Breast cancer develops when cells begin to grow abnormally. Depending on what is stimulating the cancer cell growth, breast cancer may be classified as hormone receptor positive or negative. Hormone receptor positive cancer is fueled by the female hormones of estrogen or progesterone, while hormone receptor negative cancer does not have hormone receptors, and therefore does not depend on female hormones to grow.

In a new Swedish study, researchers evaluated the association between coffee consumption and postmenopausal breast cancer risk for 2,818 patients with breast cancer and 3,111 cancer-free individuals.

The researchers found through age-adjusted regression models that individuals who consumed over five cups of coffee per day had a 20 percent reduced risk of developing any type of breast cancer. Further evaluation revealed a significantly higher reduced risk of estrogen-receptor negative breast cancer for heavy coffee drinkers, with a 57 percent reduced risk, when compared to estrogen-receptor positive cancer.

The authors concluded that high coffee consumption is associated with a significant reduction in estrogen-receptor negative breast cancer risk; however, additional research is necessary to confirm these findings.

For more information about breast cancer, please visit Natural Standard's Medical Conditions database.

Drinking Coffee May Reduce Risk of Breast Cancer

2011-07-19T14:22:00.000-05:00

07/19/2011

By David Liu, Ph.D.

Tuesday July 19,2011 (foodconsumer.org) -- Drinking coffee may help cut risk of breast cancer, particularly estrogen-receptor negative breast cancer in postmenopausal women, a new study in the May 2011 issue of Breast Cancer Research suggests. The study shows that postmenopausal women who drank five or more cups of coffee per day were 57 percent less likely to be diagnosed with ER-negative breast cancer, compared with those who drank only one or fewer cups per day.

The study was not a trial and did not prove that drinking coffee could indeed reduce the risk of breast cancer even though the possibility could not be excluded either. For the study, Jingmei Li and colleagues of Karolinska Institutet in Sweden found the association after analyzing data from 2,818 cases of breast cancer and 3,111 controls without the disease.

In addition, the researchers also found postmenopausal women who drank 5 or more cups of coffee per day were 20 percent likely to develop breast cancer. They concluded that "A high daily intake of coffee was found to be associated with a statistically significant decrease in ER-negative breast cancer among postmenopausal women."

In the United States, an estimated 175,000 women are diagnosed each year with breast cancer, which kills about 50,000 people annually, according to the National Cancer institute. Breast cancer in many cases can be prevented by simply following a healthy lifestyle including a healthy diet. Numerous studies have suggested the risk factors for the disease include vitamin D deficiency, second-hand smoking, alcohol drinking and night-shift jobs.

Foods that may help fight breast cancer include beans, berries, cruciferous vegetables, dark green leafy vegetables, flaxseed, garlic, grapes and grape juice, green tea, soy, tomatoes, whole grain and certain spices like turmeric.

Fend off liver cancer: a nice coffee may help

2011-07-18T14:15:00.000-05:00

Coffee has been demonized and blamed for many ailments including heart disease, but evidence has emerged that the drink might actually help prevent liver cancer.

A study done in Singapore has found that the more coffee you drink, the more you lower your risk of liver cancer. If you take three or more cups a day, for example, your risk could be up to 44 percent lower than for a total abstainer.

Hot water is poured into a glass of ground Ethiopian coffee. (Bloomberg)

But the fine print here is that these findings apply only to Singaporean Chinese, as they come from the first large study on the link between coffee intake and liver cancer in the segment of the local population most susceptible to the disease. The findings, from the Singapore Chinese Health Study of more than 63,000 ethnic Chinese aged 45 to 74 living here, were recently published in the American journal Cancer Causes and Control. When the participants were recruited for the study, they did not have liver cancer. By 2006, 360 had developed it.

Begun in 1993, the study was carried out by the department of epidemiology and public health in the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore, in collaboration with researchers from the United States. The research adds to the growing body of evidence debunking the long-held notion that coffee is bad for health. Earlier this year, other researchers had already reported, after studying 3,000 coffee drinkers here, that no detrimental effects had been brought about by the dark brew.

Researchers postulate that the liver-protecting properties of coffee come from two of the oils found in the beans: cafestol and kahweol. They are present whether your drink is a designer concoction, a kopitiam brew or a mix out of a three-in-one foil pack. More relevant is how the coffee is made, as some brewing methods could remove the cafestol and kahweol.

For example, brews from coffee machines that use paper filters to sieve out the coffee grounds tend to contain negligible amounts of the two oils, possibly because they are absorbed by the paper. Dark roasted coffee, like the kind sold in coffee shops here, is usually prepared by simply boiling coffee powder in a muslin bag. This method seems to preserve the oils, as is the case for other unfiltered brews such as Turkish coffee.

Associate professor Koh Woon Puay, who was involved in the study, said the findings do not mean that people should start gorging on coffee ― they just mean that coffee drinkers can now worry less as they down their brews. She said: “Coffee has often had to fight this bad image, compared with tea, which is often portrayed very positively.” Indeed, coffee scores higher as far as liver cancer is concerned ― her team, which also studied the effects of drinking green tea, found that it delivered no protection against the disease.

Studies similar to this installment of the Singapore Chinese Health Study’s look at the link between liver cancer and coffee have been done in Japan and Italy, and the same conclusions drawn, but the disease is not common in the two countries, so the results were less significant. In the Republic, liver cancer is the fourth most common among men, going by data from the Singapore Cancer Registry. Between 2004 and 2008, as many as 1,758 cases were diagnosed. The illness is also the third most deadly cancer here, contributing to 16.2 per cent of all cancer deaths. According to July 1 figures from the Singapore Liver Cancer Registry, which tracks about 2,300 patients, eight in 10 are men, mostly Chinese. A third of the patients are aged between 61 and 70.

Dr. Desmond Wai of the Asian Centre for Liver Diseases and Transplantation said the study should reassure patients who might be thinking of kicking their coffee habit for fear of harming their livers. The liver specialist and gastroenterologist said: “Many can’t believe this convenient, inexpensive habit can protect them from liver cancer.” The findings are likely to alter the approach some doctors take. Dr. Wai explained that many tend to focus on controlling the viruses that lead to liver cancer, such as the hepatitis B virus. ‘They might not realize that other methods can help, such as drinking coffee.’

Still, moderation is vital. Dr. Wai said over-consumption of caffeine could trigger heart palpitations, insomnia, headaches or even panic attacks. He recommends no more than three cups a day. Researchers involved in the Singapore Chinese Health Study also looked at whether drinking coffee could protect against colorectal cancer, the No.1 cancer here. The results, published separately last year, suggested that coffee could lower the risk of advanced colon cancer, but only among smokers. Koh said more studies were needed.

In 2008, it was found that drinking four or more cups of coffee a day might lower the risk of diabetes by 30 percent.

By Poon Chian Hui (The Straits Times)

Another Report of Coffee and Alzheimer's

2011-06-28T17:05:00.002-05:00

Coffee May Ward Off Alzheimer's

Analysis by Marianne English Tue Jun 28, 2011 09:28 AM ET

As scientists inch closer to figuring out what prevents dementia and Alzheimer's disease, one avenue leads to that morning cup of Joe.
It's likely that many complex factors influence the development of Alzheimer's -- a neurodegenerative disease degrading a person's memory, personality and language skills, but scientists have found clues to halt its development.
In one paper in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, scientists looked at differences in transgenic mice given caffeine, regular coffee and decaffeinated coffee in their drinking water.
Previous findings from the same team suggest coffee may ward off dementia, but it wasn't clear whether the effects could be attributable to caffeine or some other compound found in coffee.