Caffeine has been blamed for virtually every imaginable health issue. Here's a summary of the latest findings.
Cancer: A review of dozens of studies fails to link caffeine consumption with cancer. In fact, there is some evidence that regular coffee drinking may reduce the risk of colon cancer.
Headache: Caffeine appears to help headache medications by boosting their effectiveness. Migraine sufferers who took a combination of ibuprofen and caffeine had better results than those who took only ibuprofen.
Heart Disease: A ten-year long study of 20,000 men and women found no increase in risk of heart disease from drinking coffee - even 5 to 6 cups a day.
Miscarriage: Studies show that coffee consumption does increase the risk of miscarriage. Caffeine equivalent of I to 3 cups appears to increase risk by 30 percent; 3 to 5 cups raises it to 40 percent; after 5 cups, it's 120 percent.Parkinsons's Disease: Reseach suggests that caffeine may protect against Parkinson's disease. A recent study of 8,000 Japanese-American men found that those who drank the most coffee were least likely to develop the disease.
Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter,
via Metro Halifax News
and Regina Ostomy News, Mar/Apr 2002 |
