Dear fitness coach,
My morning cuppa Joe has turned into a 4 times a day habit. I have been reading about the pros and cons of caffeine consumption and was just wondering your take on it?
Caffeine fiend
Dear fiend,
Have no fear-this is one habit you do not need to break! Studies have now conclusively shown that caffeine has many different health benefits:
- Coffee makes you exercise harder and longer: Scientists and many athletes have known for years, of course, that a cup of coffee before a workout jolts athletic performance, especially in endurance sports like distance running and cycling
- Coffee helps reduce risk of diabetes: Researchers found that people who drink four or more cups of coffee a day reduce their chances of developing Type 2 diabetes by 50 percent.
- Coffee can ward off skin cancer: Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School followed 112,897 men and women over a 20-year period and, apparently, women who drink three or more cups of coffee a day are much less likely to develop skin cancer than those who don’t.
- Coffee makes you feel good: A study done by the National Institute of Health found that those who drink four or more cups of coffee were about 10 percent less likely to be depressed than those who had never touched the java.
- Coffee can lessen the symptoms of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease: Since caffeine helps with movement control and sharper brain activity, it can mitigate the ravages of those diseases.
