Coffee as first line of defense against disease
When the Ink Spots sang "I love the java jive and it loves me" in 1940, they could not have known how right they were. Coffee not only helps clear the mind and perk up the energy, it also provides more healthful antioxidants than any other food or beverage in the American diet, according to a study released Sunday.
Of course, too much coffee can make people jittery and even raise cholesterol levels, so food experts stress moderation.
The antioxidants in coffee are known as polyphenols. Sometimes they are bound to a sugar molecule, which covers up the antioxidant group. The first step in measuring them was to break that sugar link - chemicals in the stomach do the same thing, freeing the polyphenols.
The benefits of an antioxidant rich diet are well documented and most people agree that a healthy, well balanced diet is the first line of defense against a host of degenerative diseases.
But what may surprise some people is that among the wide variety of antioxidant rich foods, coffee has been found to be one of the most significant sources of antioxidants in many people's diet.
An introduction to antioxidants
The oxygen we breathe also causes harmful toxic reactions with free radicals in our body. These free radicals attack cell tissue and can trigger visible signs of ageing as well as different diseases such as cancers and cardiovascular problems. The role of antioxidants is to interact with these free radicals and break the destructive chain reaction that damages tissues. Our bodies produce antioxidants on their own but we need to obtain additional antioxidants from the foods we eat.
There are several types of antioxidants and there is strong evidence to suggest that particular types of antioxidants target specific free radicals. For instance, carotenoids like Beta carotene, found in carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatos and other yellow-orange fruits and vegetables, seem to improve lung function, help slow signs of ageing, and even reduce the risk of some types of cancer and problems related to Type 2 diabetes.
Chlorogenic acid, a combination of caffeic and quinic acids, is a polyphenol found abundantly in coffee and represents a substantial part of coffee antioxidants.
There is evidence to suggest that these antioxidants in coffee help prevent, postpone or limit certain degenerative diseases of ageing such as cardiovascular disease and cancer, as well as Type 2 diabetes. These antioxidants are present in both decaffeinated and caffeinated coffee.
Since most antioxidant-rich sources are derived from plants (phytochemicals) and different antioxidants tend to be "color-coded", the easiest way to make sure you get enough antioxidants in your diet is to take five servings of different colored fruit and vegetables daily.
There is no recommended daily allowance (RDA) for antioxidants because individual physiology and lifestyles put some people at greater risk of developing certain diseases than others. However, the additional layers of protection provided by different antioxidants from varied sources can do much in terms of preventing or postponing oxidative stress and the onset of diseases in general by enhancing the body's line of defenses.
Although some important antioxidants like vitamin E and C are part of a nutritious diet; other antioxidant substances like soya beans, coffee and red wine have no known nutritional function but are nonetheless significant sources of beneficial antioxidants.
Therefore, the key to enhancing your protection against harmful free radicals is an ample intake of dietary antioxidants from a variety of sources.
No one is suggesting that you should get all your antioxidants exclusively from coffee. That would be inadvisable from a nutritional point of view. The idea is to load up on a variety of antioxidants from different sources. But for people who enjoy reasonable amounts of coffee as part of their daily routine, the good news is that their habit actually provides them with another layer of defense against the harmful effects of free radicals.
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