I have been waiting for this!!
I love my morning coffee. Love it! Just one cup a day, brewed at home, with fat-free creamer and Stevia. I'm making it as healthy as I can.
Now...researchers at Harvard are actually saying that COFFEE IS HEALTHY! Well, they've actually said that, "Long-term coffee consumption was not associated with an increased risk of stroke in women. In contrast, our data suggest that coffee consumption may modestly reduce risk of stroke."
Specifically, the researchers found, "women who drank four or more cups of coffee a day had a 20% reduced risk of stroke compared to women who had less than one cup per month. Drinking two to three cups per day reduced risk by 19%. Drinking a cup five to seven times a week reduced risk by 12%."
Over 80,000 cases were reviewed, beginning in 1980, and the number of stroke cases were identified over the 24 year study, including other factors, including if participants in the study smoked, had other conditions (diabetes, etc). The findings that coffee consumption cuts women's stroke risk applied only to those who were nonsmokers and otherwise healthy.
Also interestingly, the findings were not based on the caffeine in coffee, as the participants who drank tea or soda did not have the same results.
Do these findings from this (observational) study change your mind about your coffee consumption?
Resource:
Circulation, American Heart Association, February 2009
Another study, posted at EmpowHer related to coffee consumption and reducing risk of Type 2 Diabetes may be of interest as well.