Scientists are saying coffee may be good for you. COLLEEN LONG wonders if it's too good to be true.
Dunkin' Brands executive chef Stan Frankenthaler made an entire meal centered around coffee, but nary a doughnut in sight. (AP Photo/HO/Dunkin Donuts/Shiho Fukada)
Dun Gifford, founder of Oldways Preservation Trust, says food and drink should be a pleasure, not a curse. (AP Photo/HO/Oldways)
Food writer Corby Kummer loves coffee so much he wrote a book about it called "The Joy of Coffee." (AP Photo/Colleen Long)
Attention coffee lovers: Don't feel bad about that morning cup of joe. It's getting a bad rap, scientists say.
In fact, coffee may even be good for you. Research led by Rob van Dam at the Harvard School of Public Health shows that drinking coffee reduces risk of type 2 diabetes, once found mostly in the elderly, but now increasingly common among the young because of rising obesity. The researchers noticed a correlation between coffee consumption and a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes, but they're not sure why.
"As obesity rises, it's going to get harder to prevent diabetes," van Dam said. "Anything we can do to help is good."
He is careful to caution that his research doesn't suggest coffee will cure type 2 diabetes, or that those afflicted with the disease should be downing five cups a day -- especially because in the short term, coffee can interfere with how the body uses glucose.
But other studies suggest coffee may reduce the risk of liver cancer, fend off asthma and Parkinson's disease and help combat depression. Of course, it's hard to know what to believe in this age of fad diets, where new studies come out all the time suggesting a certain food is bad for you, only to reverse course a few years later.
Coffee's bad reputation started when a study suggested years ago that coffee was linked to pancreatic cancer. Many other studies have since proved that to be false, researchers say.
Van Dam and other scientists were gathered recently by Oldways Preservation Trust, a nonprofit food think-tank responsible for the Mediterranean diet, a pyramid culled from European habits that promotes more whole grains and fewer servings of meat. (Note: the Mediterranean diet is not a "diet" as in South Beach or Atkins.)
Oldways creator K. Dun Gifford said he thought it was about time to clear up some of the coffee rumors floating around.
"We're promoting a healthy way of eating, and an enjoyable way of eating," Gifford said. "Everybody in the world drinks coffee. It's very much part of a healthy diet."
Van Dam says coffee is demonized because it's associated with other bad habits. "People who drink lots of coffee tend to smoke more," he said. "They tend to exercise less. These things are associated with drinking coffee, but it's not coffee's fault."
Scientists say more research needs to be done to figure out the benefits of coffee, but generally, it's not bad to drink it in moderation. "Look at grandparents and great grandparents," Gifford said. "They drank coffee and they're still around. They look pretty good."
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URBAN COFFEE LEGENDS
Rumor: Coffee dehydrates and doesn't count as fluid intake.
New studies say caffeine doesn't drain you as previously thought. Lawrence Armstrong, a professor of exercise at the University of Connecticut says when drinking a caffeinated beverage, the body retains fluid. And there's no evidence that drinking caffeinated beverages causes a harmful imbalance.
Rumor: Too much coffee gives you ulcers.
Ulcers have frequently been blamed on lifestyle choices. But scientists now say they're primarily caused by bacterial infections.
Rumor: Caffeine is addictive.
This one's true, folks. Regular caffeine intake triggers a mild addiction.
Rumor: Coffee is bad for reproductive health.
As with anything, it's probably not good to have 17 cups of coffee a day. But, scientists say, there's no harm to your baby if you have a cup or two.
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COOKING WITH COFFEE
The company behind Dunkin' Donuts was invited to participate in Gifford's luncheon seminar because, as he put it, it's an everyman's coffee. But Dunkin' Brands Inc.'s executive chef Stan Frankenthaler had something a little fancier in mind: chicken mole with a coffee rub.
Frankenthaler says coffee can be brewed and used in sauces or dressings, ground up like peppercorns for a spice rub, or used as whole beans to make coffee-infused oils.
"It's a really full flavor, but it should be like a soy sauce," he said. "A good soy sauce doesn't overpower a dish, but you know it's there."
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Colleen Long is an asap reporter.
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