Java for the Soul

Who doesn't love coffee?

I'll tell ya who...

No one. Unless, of course, you just haven't had the perfect cup.

My cup of coffee has evolved ever since I took my first sip...

My mimi use to give me coffee when I was tee tiny. I can just barely reminisce watching her pour in cream and sugar before handing over the warm mug. I loved it.

I picked up the routine cup of joe in the middle of my high school career in hopes it would give me the energy to power through my morning classes without nodding my head back due to a lack of a good night's sleep. My coffee then consisted of a little less cream and a little less sugar than it had when my mimi was preparing it.

After realizing my calling in the wonderful world of health and fitness, I dropped the cream and sugar and found the amazing combination of a packet of Stevia and a sprinkle of cinnamon. My cup of java was perfected. Or was it...?

Now, in order to reap all the benefits of coffee without any unnecessary calories, I enjoy my coffee in the purest form. Black. No cream, no sugar, no stevia. Only the occasional sprinkle of cinnamon. It truly is perfection.

Now for the good stuff...

The benefits of drinking coffee.

1. According to a Harvard study, women who drink a few cups of caffeinated coffee have a lower risk of depression than women who don't drink coffee.

2. A study in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease that there's something in coffee that interacts with caffeine to boost the levels of granulocyte colony stimulating factor (GCSF), a growth factor that seems to be able to fight off Alzheimer's in mice. The amount of coffee in this study is equal to 4 to 5 cups of coffee for humans.

3. Men who drink six cups of coffee a day have a 60 percent decreased chance of developing a dangerous form of prostate cancer, as well as a 20 percent decreased chance of developing any other kinds of prostate cancer.

4. New research presented at the American Association of Cancer Research conference shows that coffee could help to ward off basal cell cancer, the most common type of caner in the world. 

5. Drinking coffee is associated with a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes, with more coffee consumption linked to a greater decrease in risk.

6. Drinking a few cups of coffee a day could lower the risk of developing Parkinson's disease by as much as 25 percent, according to a study by the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

7. Coffee not only helps clear the mind and perk up energy, it also provides more healthful antioxidants then any other food or beverage in the American diet.

Here's to coffee!

XOXO,

Claire