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Ikaria is a Greek Island well to the southesast of Athens.  Many people on that island live past the age of 90!  Why is that so?

Well…it could be the coffee!

The European Society of Cardiology released a report August 31 about a study done by a team from the University of Athens indicating how one to two cups of coffee per day could be good for your arteries, specifically aortic distensibility.   Distensiblity is a measure of the elasticity of the arteries, and low levels have been associated with athereosclerosis and a reliable predictor of cardiovascular events.

The island of Ikaria was chosen because of the known above average life expectancy of the residents there.  The study took place during the period June to October 2009 and began with 343 men and 330 women aged 65 to 100, which group was then reduced to 235 people with a known history of hypertension and blood pressure above the normal range. Aortic distensibility of each of these 235 people were calculated non-invasively.

The research findings attribute the benefits of coffee to the polyphenolic compounds found in coffee, especially traditional Greek blends that are high in diterpenes such as cafestol and kahweol. The effect of chlorogenic acid is reported to be associated with nitric oxide, as caffeic and ferulic acids appear to improve vascular function by reducing oxidation and enhancing the bio-availability of nitric oxide. Moreover, other micronutrients, including flavonoids, magnesium, potassium, niacin and vitamin E, contribute to the observed health effects of coffee consumption, mainly because of their anti-oxidant properties.

Doctor Chrysohoou, the study coordinator summarized the findings, “The study revealed that moderate coffee consumption (between one and two cups per day) is associated with higher values of aortic distensibility when compared with other hypertensive elderly individuals taking less quantities of coffee. Adjustments were made for various factors such as age, gender, physical activity status, creatinine levels, BMI and diabetes mellitus. There was also evidence that moderate coffee consumption leads to reduced cardiovascular disease, lower prevalence of diabetes and hyperlipidaemia, lower body mass index, better renal functions and higher creatinine clearance levels. There was no evidence, however, that increasing coffee consumption to three to five cups per day would lead to further improvements in aortic distensibility.”

Coffee can help workouts by delaying muscle fatigue and keeping you focused and energetic.

A US News and World Report article from last month indicated a rough estimate of caffeine before exercising should be between 0.5 and 1.4 milligrams per one pound of body weight.  Given the typical 20 milligrams of caffeine in an ounce of coffee and doing the math, for say a 150 pound person, that’s roughly one to two 8 ounce cups.  If you’re new to drinking coffee, you may want to drink less before exercising, and if you drink a lot of coffee, increase the amount.

If adding coffee to your workout routine, drinking it 30-60 minutes beforehand will put your blood level of caffeine at a peak during your workout.  It’s best to pair it with a small snack which will give you carbohydrates and sodium to keep you going!

Coffee and tea are both considered ”healthy” foods, and certainly much better for us than some of the other liquids we could be consuming.  But let’s take a look at some of the comparisons when it comes to their health properties.  First off, the comparison is made to “green tea” as opposed to “black tea”, because of those two, green tea is made from steaming the leaves in contrast to black tea where the leaves are fermented.  Steaming preserves more of the polyphenols, or antioxidants.   

Relative to antioxidants, green tea has greater degreee of antioxidants than does coffee.  However, when looking at the per capita consumption of coffee and tea in the American diet, coffee comes out on top — 1,299 mg of antioxidants for coffee versus 294 mg of antioxidants of tea.

Both coffee and green tea are loaded with vitamins and minerals….B vitamins, and minerals such as calcium, potassium, and iron.  The degree of whether coffee or tea is more favorable is of course dependent on how much of each is consumed, and in the case of coffee, whether the coffee is HealthWise Coffee which has a much higher mineral content.  

Both coffee and tea have been shown to have associations with reduced risk of diseases and ailments, such as some cancers, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and stroke, among others.  It should be noted that the number of studies performed - some 18,000 for coffee, far outweighs the number of studies performed on the health aspects of tea, about 1,000.  And, apparently in the case of tea, some of the tests pointing to positive outcomes, were performed on animals and not humans. 

With regard to acidity, green tea has a higher pH than coffee in general, typically in the range of 6.0 to 6.4, versus the pH of an unroasted coffee bean of 5.0.  In a HealthWise Gourmet Coffees test of the pH of Celestial Seasonings Green Tea, the pH was 6.18, which corresponded to the pH of HealthWise Coffee in a similar test.  For a look at the tested pH of various coffees, click here   http://www.healthwisecoffee.com/blog/?page_id=89 .

There can be some negatives to coffee and tea consumption, and it would seem that there are perhaps more real negatives with tea.  Drinking too much coffee can give you higher blood pressure.  Reseach shows that tea can impair the body’s ability to absorb iron, and, in higher quantities -especially as in iced tea, can lead to kidney stones.  Also, there is some research that shows the risk of developing esophogeal cancer can be increased from drinking very hot tea.

So which is healthier…coffee or green tea?  The answer probably lies in whether you are a coffee drinker, or tea drinker, as you are likely not both.  It also could depend on whether you are a marketer of coffee, or a marketer of tea! 

Two of America’s favorite drinks are world’s apart when it comes to how they affect our health, and it is interesting how one helps reduce the risks of developing certain diseases and ailments, and the other helps promote a host of problems. 

Thousands of studies have been made of coffee over the past few decades.  Some of these studies have shown that coffee consumption can help reduce the risk of developing heart disease, Type 2 Diabetes, gout, Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, certain forms of cancer, among other ailments.  Coffee has zero calories, and has shown to increase levels of HDL, or good cholesterol.  Beyond that, coffee has naturally occurring vitamins and minerals, and in the case of HealthWise Coffees, exceptional amounts.  

In her book “An Unashamed Defense of Coffee, 101 Reasons to Drink Coffee Without Guilt”, Professor Roseane Santos indicates “Not only does coffee contain zero calories, it can help you to lose weight!  It may seem silly, but when you ‘Get up and go with a cup of Joe’, you’re also waking up and jump starting your metabolism.”

Let’s take a look at sodas.  There are the equivalent of 13 teaspoons of sugar in each 12 ounce can of sweetened soda.  How can that be good?   Sodas have no nutrients to speak of; they help add to weight gain and the growing obesity problem in the U.S., which in turn can help foster diabetes; they help promote tooth problems; and they are very acidic at a pH of 2.5!  Battery acid is about 1.0; water is 7.0; brewed HealthWise Coffee is over 6.0; while the human body requires a pH of about 7.35. 

So why all the soda consumption?   The obvious reasons are that sodas actually taste pretty good; you can find sodas everywhere groceries are sold, plus tens of thousands of vending machines; and the big soft drink makers spend billions of dollars in advertising and promotion.    

According to a recent article in consumeraffairs.com, per capita consumption of carbonated soft drinks has declined for 11 straight years, from its peak in 1998.  So it would appear that consumers have been getting the message to perhaps slow down on the soft drinks.  

Athletes who drink a lot of coffee can improve their performance by as much as six percent.

Results from a new study from researchers at Coventry University in central England were due to be reported this week at the annual meeting of the Society for Experimental Biology in Prague.

Lead researcher Dr. Rob James indicated “A small increase in performance via caffeine could mean the difference between a gold medal in the Olympics and an also-ran.” 

The World Anti-Doping Agency is the keeper of what athletes can and can’t injest, and caffeine has been off the banned list since 2004.  Seems like caffeine may get a second look based on the British study.

More good news for coffee drinkers! 

According to a recent journal publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, regular coffee drinkers had a 39 percent decreased risk of oral cavity and pharynx cancers combined.  The pharynx is the part of the neck and throat that is immediately behind the mouth and nasal cavity.

Regular coffee drinkers were defined as having consumed an estimated four or more cups of coffee per day.  No similar findings were reported for decaf coffee or teas. 

The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Utah, and actually came from pooled-analysis of nine studies collected by the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology consortium.   

“Since coffee is so widely used and there is a relatively high incidence and low survival rate of these forms of cancer, our results have important public health implications that need to be further addressed,” said lead researcher Mia Hashibe, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of family and preventative medicine at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City.

“What makes our results so unique is that we had a very large sample size, and since we combined data across many studies, we had more statistical power to detect associations between cancer and coffee,” she added.

Last August 2009, we reported in this Blog about a study that was reported that month in the Canadian Medical Association Journal about the potential negative effects on bones of Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPI).  That journal reported on a study which found that long term exposure to PPI was associated with osteoporosis related bone fractures.  Commonly known PPI include Nexium, Prilosec, Protonix and Aciphex. 

This past week on May 25 the FDA issued a warning about PPI…that several studies have shown an increase in hip, wrist and spine fractures particulary among users of PPI that are older than 50 years old.  In a statement by Joyce Korvick, deputy director for safety in the FDA’s Gastroenterology Products division, she was quoted as saying “Health-care professionals should consider whether a lower dose or shorter duration of therapy would adequately treat the patient’s condition”. 

The difficulties with acid reflux pills underscores the need to make sure that one gets the recommended daily allowance — and more, of essential minerals.  Whatever minerals our bodies need, but do not receive through diet, are drawn from our bones.  And minerals of course provide strength to our bones.  

HealthWise coffees can fill needs here a couple ways:  at the “front end”, the coffees are easy on the stomach, and many people who have experienced acid reflux and similar conditions can drink HealthWise coffee without stomach upset — perhaps avoiding acid reflux pills altogether.  Beyond that, HealthWise coffees have more essential minerals than you’ll find in any other coffee due to our unique roasting process.     Please click on the “Healthy Coffee” tab of www.healthwisecoffee.com for more information.

This is from a recent study released by the Mayo clinic.  The study covered 20,000 women and found that those who consumed more than two and a half cups of coffee per day were less likely to develop endometrial cancer than those women who consumed no coffee. 

The study did not find the same protective effects from other forms of food containing caffeine such as tea or chocolate. 

A group of Swedish researchers recently released a study which showed that a greater intake of calcium may help men live longer. 

The sudy was led by Dr. Joanna Kaluza of the Karolinska Instutet of Stockholm, and followed 23,366 men aged 45 to 79 for a 10 year period from 1998 through 2007.  The men had indicated their diet at the beginning of the study.  At the end of the study, 2,358 or 10% of the men had died from all causes.

The study found that the top third of men who consumed the most calcium — getting nearly 2,000 milligrams a day — were 25% less likely to die from any cause than the bottom third of men who consumed about 1,000 milligrams a day.  The top third was also 23% less likely to die from heart disease than the bottom third.  No such findings were concluded with respect to cancer.

Dr. Kaluza was quoted as saying “Intake of calcium above that recommended daily may reduce all-cause mortality.”  The current Recommended Daily Allowance or RDA for calcium is 1,000 milligrams for men aged 19 to 50 years and 1,200 milligrams for men 50 and older.

The study was published online in the Journal of Epidemiology February 19, 2010.

So…if a person needs more than the RDA for calcium, where does one look?   Dairy products and supplements are the obvious choices.  A glass of milk has about 300 mg of calcium.  Other good sources of calcium include green leafy vegetables, beans, grains, and nuts such as almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts.

Coffee is also a good source of calcium…and HealthWise coffees more than any other coffee.  A 16 ounce mug of HealthWise coffee yields about 4.6% of the RDA for calcium.

Vitamin D is necessary to promote absorption of dietary calcium.  Since Vitamin D is present in very few foods, one should consider supplements, and of course getting out in the sun more often.  Vitamin D is created with exposure of your skin to sunshine, and about a half hour a day would help you absorb your calcium.  

Who would ever think that the choice made in selecting a decaf coffee would make a difference in the level of your LDL cholesterol?

Apparently so, from research findings by Dr. H. Robert Superko of the Fuqua Heart Center in Atlanta.  This goes back to a study in 2005 led by Dr. Superko and presented to the American Heart Association. 

In the study, 187 coffee drinkers were randomly assigned to three groups of people and studied for an eight week period: those who daily drank three to five cups of decaf coffee; those who drank the same amount of caffeinated coffee; and those who drank no coffee.   No creamers of sweeteners were used by the coffee drinkers, just black.

Results of the eight week study showed no change among the three groups in levels of triglycerides, HDL, glucose, or insulin — but there were significant increases in the level of the bad LDL cholesterol among the decaf drinkers. 

So, why would that be?  Why would drinking decaf raise your cholesterol?  Dr. Superko speculated in an interview that the decaf coffee was of the Robusta species of coffee beans, which has a higher dipertene, or fat content, than does coffee made from the Arabica species.  Apparently the coffee drinkers who drank caffeinated coffee in the study drank coffee from the milder, more expensive Arabica beans.

The health message here would be to understand what type of bean is used in your decaf, and choose Arabica.  Typically, decaf coffees are made from Robusta beans, and you may need to look closely to see if you’re drinking Arabica-based decaf.  HealthWise Swiss Water Process decaf is 100% Colombian coffee, and since Colombian only produces Arabica, no need to worry if you drink HealthWise decaf.