Kick the Coffee?

Last week was a tough week for our family, so I'm a little behind in getting prepared for this week's goal.

My gorgeous, kind, fun-loving Grandmother passed away early Saturday morning with her faithful, devoted husband and beautiful daughters by her side. She fought a battle against cancer and won, but it came back again and the chemo weakened her body so that when she got pneumonia, it was just too much. This project is for you, Grandma. As I know you would say, let's kick cancer's butt (although I know you'd use a word not quite as kind here). I want to be part of the war against our current food system, against our current "norms" for taking care of ourselves so that cancer becomes a rare disease rather than a common killer. I believe the Standard American Diet is one piece of the puzzle in eradicating cancer and I owe it to my Grandma to do my part.

She will be so, so missed, but as a woman strong in her faith and dedicated to her Lord and Savior, I know where she is, and I can celebrate her entrance to Heaven.

After laying out everything I wanted to accomplish last week, I mulled over what to start with. Since this week will be busy and difficult, I decided to start with something a little easier to maintain while on the road traveling.

Coffee.

I was convinced I needed to give it up. Caffeine is bad, right? Coffee is damaging to your health, right? Well, that's what I thought anyway. So when compiling information for today's blog post, I was a little shocked that I kept coming upon study after study, article after article that says coffee really isn't bad for you. In fact, when I tried to find studies that proved that coffee is harmful, all I could find was information about mycotoxins (a mold found in coffee), not the actual coffee, being bad for you.

As it turns out, coffee consumption is actually good for you. According to recent research, those who consume coffee regularly have a decreased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease and liver cancer, among other things. Rob M. van Dam, assistant professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, explained that in the past, it was difficult to distinguish the health effects of smoking cigarettes from drinking coffee since smokers were more likely to consume large amounts of coffee. The new, large-scale governmental study was able to control for those risks.

Donald Hensrud, chair of the division of preventive medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said that though we've heard all about the benefits of certain tea for their antioxidants, they now believe that coffee is the largest source of antioxidants among those who drink it.

So, what exactly does the study say?

The major governmental study found that those who consume coffee may live longer than those who don't. According to this New York Times' article on the study, "While coffee contains caffeine, a stimulant that may temporarily increase heart rate and blood pressure in some people, coffee also contains hundreds of unique compounds and antioxidants that may confer health benefits."

The study, completed over the course of fourteen years, found that regular coffee drinkers were less likely to acquire diabetes, heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, infections and even injuries and accidents. For men, the risk of dying during the 14-year study was 10 percent lower and for women, 15 percent lower in those who drank 2-6 cups of coffee per day. Interestingly, the risk was no different among those who drank decaffeinated coffee, meaning it likely isn't the caffeine in coffee that protects you. In other words, you're not going to see the same effects from drinking, say, Coke.

The study's lead author did caution that there is only an association between those who drank coffee and the lower risk of death and that more research needs to be done, but to-date, this is the largest study ever completed on coffee consumption and it's very encouraging for those of us who love our coffee. While the results can't definitively guarantee that drinking coffee protects you from disease, they make it very clear that drinking coffee isn't bad for you, like has previously been thought.

While this is all music to coffee lovers' ears, keep in mind that none of these studies prove with complete certainty that we should be downing cup after cup of coffee every day. According to the Mayo Clinic, drinking two to four cups of brewed coffee each day isn't harmful. More than that, though, can cause insomnia, irritability, nervousness, restlessness, stomach upset, fast heartbeat and muscle tremors. Also, research suggests that caffeine consumption isn't for everyone. Some are more prone to sensitivity to caffeine. Others, like those who already have diabetes, may experience an exaggerated blood sugar response to meals. In short, I'd say listen to your own body. Only you know if you're sensitive to caffeine.

Because I'm a nursing mom and because I do seem to be affected by too much caffeine (jittery and difficulty sleeping), and taking into consideration everything I've learned in compiling this blog post, I'm setting myself a limit of two 8-oz cups of coffee each day. This is a totally personal call based on my own sensitivity to caffeine and the fact that I'm nursing a baby. If you're contemplating your own coffee habits, your end result will likely look different than mine.

Because I crave coffee in the afternoons and sometimes even after my second cup in the morning, I'll turn to my Teeccino. Teeccino is an herbal coffee that I heard about years ago and thought was totally nutty and weird. I actually got a free sample from some event I went to and stuck it in a drawer, convinced nothing "herbal" could ever serve as a replacement for the glorious coffee bean. And then, while I was pregnant a year or so later, I found it in the drawer and gave it a shot. I was completely surprised! I actually liked it! Teeccino does not taste like coffee. I'll put that out there right now. But like a lot of the reviews on Amazon say, in a sense, it's almost better than coffee. It's roasted and brewed to be similar to coffee. Teeccino is a blend of herbs, grains, fruits and nuts. You can read about the ingredients used on their website here. So far I've tried the ones pictured above, Vanilla Nut and the Maya Organic Chocolate. I'm more partial to the Vanilla Nut, but they're both great. The Maya Chocolate has a spicy kick at the end which freaked me out at first but I grew to like after my second or third cup. There are 18 different flavors, so I'm sure there's something for everyone.

There are a few other important things to look at when deciding on what coffee to choose, like Fair Trade, mycotoxins and organic coffee, but this post is long enough for now so I'll dish about what I've learned about that stuff later this week.

I'm also going to play around with some homemade healthy creamer and/or coffeehouse-type drink recipes this week to add to my arsenal of healthy processed food replacements.

Anyone out there still joining me in Project Real Food? If so, I'd love to hear what you're working on this week!