Tag Archives: caffeine

Does avoiding coffee make you grumpy or depressed?

03 Wednesday Oct 2018

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It makes sense. Harvard School of Public Health researchers found drinking 4 cups of regular coffee a day can reduce our risk of depression by 20%. That’s compared to people consuming caffeinated tea, soft drinks, energy drinks, or chocolate. Researchers aren’t exactly sure why caffeinated coffee is the best mood booster. But the Mayo Clinic says 400 milligrams of caffeine – about what’s in 4 cups of brewed coffee – is considered safe for most adults.

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Here’s another reason to embrace your love for coffee and tea:

26 Wednesday Sep 2018

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Your favorite caffeinated beverage could help you stay younger – and healthier – longer! That’s according to Dr. David Furman, director of the Stanford Institute for Immunity and Infection.

He and his research team studied chronic inflammation – which gradually increases as we age. It’s linked to almost every single big-time disease, including heart problems, cancer, joint disorders and Alzheimer’s. And in the study, the participants with the lowest levels of inflammation – at any age – had one surprising thing in common: They all drank caffeinated beverages. And the more caffeine they consumed – up to 5 cups of coffee a day – the lower their inflammation levels… and the less likely they were to have symptoms of worsening health, like high blood pressure or hardening of the arteries.

So, why is caffeine such an effective anti-inflammatory? Because it greatly reduces activity along the body’s inflammatory gene pathway – and helps short-circuit the normal body-wide inflammation linked to aging.

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Go ahead – enjoy that coffee!

12 Tuesday Jun 2018

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Here’s another reason to enjoy your daily coffee, guilt-free: It speeds up your metabolism. Caffeine accelerates the process of thermogenesis by 11% for up to 3 hours – which is how we convert calories into energy. That equals an extra 150 calories burned a day for the average person.

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Here’s a great reason to sip coffee BEFORE you drive to work or school:

26 Friday Jan 2018

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It’ll make you safer behind the wheel.

That’s according to a recent study in the British Medical Journal. Researchers compared the lifestyle habits of more than 1,000 long-distance, commercial drivers – including about half that had been involved in a crash, and half that had NO crashes on their driving record. Then, they factored out some of the most obvious reasons for a crash – including sleep disorders, certain health conditions, and excessive driving without taking a break. The result? Researchers found that the safest drivers consistently consumed a caffeinated beverage, either before they hit the road, or during their drive! Mainly coffee, tea or an energy drink. And you can probably guess why…

It’s because coffee is proven to stimulate us in a way that makes us more alert while driving. So, we’re more likely to spot road hazards, or other drivers doing unsafe things, before they become a problem.

Of course, you should never drive when you’re tired – no matter how much caffeine you drink to keep yourself awake. But if you’re well-rested, and have a cup of coffee before your next road trip, this study says you’ll reduce your odds of being in a crash a whopping 63%!

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Wait before having your first cup of coffee…

14 Monday Nov 2016

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No matter what time you wake up – wait 90 minutes – THEN have coffee. Psychologist Steven Miller is from BrainFacts.org – and he says when you wake up, your stress hormones will start rising. So drinking coffee right out of the gate is a waste of good caffeine. Because we’re already on a natural cortisol upswing, so you won’t feel the energy boost. But after 90 minutes, those stress hormones will start leveling off. That’s when a dose of caffeine will pay off, raising your energy levels back up again. So remember, wake up time – plus 90 minutes – equals coffee.

Avoid these late night delights – unless you didn’t want to sleep.

02 Tuesday Aug 2016

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Here’s a quick list of foods sleep doctors say to avoid before bedtime – otherwise, they’ll keep you wide awake all night:

•First: Obviously anything with caffeine. Like soda, coffee, and chocolate – even coffee and chocolate ice cream. Would you believe a scoop of coffee ice cream has more caffeine than a can of cola or a cup of tea? Also, caffeine can linger in your system for up to 14 hours! And can increase the number of times you wake up at night, and decrease the total amount of sleep you get.

•Another food to avoid at bedtime? French fries – or anything fried and fatty. Research shows that high-fat foods push your digestive system into overdrive. Which can keep you awake.

•Finally, avoid really spicy foods. It’s not because they cause heartburn. It’s because they increase your core body temperature – and we need our body temperature to drop to achieve quality sleep.

If you’re a coffee addict…

29 Friday Apr 2016

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you can blame your parents for giving you the coffee-loving gene. Harvard researchers say the difference between someone who sips a single cup of coffee in the morning, and someone who guzzles 4 cups, is genetic. The Harvard team says there’s a cluster of genes that regulate how we react to caffeine. It’s why some people feel buzzed and happy – and others feel sick to their stomach. In fact, the genes that influence our coffee consumption are as strong as the ones that influence how we react to alcohol and cigarettes.

Try this to get a full night of sleep…

29 Friday Jan 2016

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Research shows that getting at least 7 hours of sleep a night cuts our risk of illness by 33%. But our crazy-busy lives, and our love of late-in-the-day caffeine, mean we don’t always get the sleep we need.

So, try this: Spend at least 2 minutes a day cuddling your loved ones, or your pets. Cuddling with another creature signals our immune system to boost production of disease-fighting white blood cells. And researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found that we get just as big an immunity boost from cuddling as we get from regularly getting a full night’s sleep.

Blood pressure tips

07 Wednesday Oct 2015

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If you have to get your blood pressure taken, chill out for 5 minutes beforehand.

Relaxing for 5 minutes before your blood pressure is taken guarantees you won’t have an artificially high reading. Because if your reading is too high, you may be prescribed unnecessary medication. For example, rushing into your doctor’s office after a traffic-jammed drive can raise your systolic pressure by as many as 20 points!

So sit quietly, flip through a book, check Facebook and calm down in the waiting room. It’s also a good idea to skip that Dunkin’ Donuts run on the way to the doctor. Caffeine can cause a temporary blood pressure spike – and give you a false reading.

Sometimes combining certain foods can improve their health benefits.

05 Monday Oct 2015

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avotomato-wpLike: Avocado and Tomato. Tomatoes are loaded with the antioxidant lycopene. But when you combine tomatoes with avocado, the unsaturated fat in the avocado helps the body absorb SEVEN TIMES the normal amount of lycopene! And lycopene inhibits the production of cancer cells.

Another good combo: Grilled steak and Brussels sprouts. There are compounds in Brussels sprouts which help the body flush out carcinogens. Including the carcinogens which form on charred meat during grilling.

Finally: Here’s a BAD food combo… Alcohol and energy drinks. Caffeine is a stimulant, while alcohol is a depressant. And when you overload your body with both at the same time, it puts tremendous stress on your heart… So don’t even think about ordering a Red Bull and Vodka.