Fresh Brewed Nutrition Part II

 

In the first part of this series, we discussed coffee, the amazing beverage that might even be good for you.

See Part I Here

In Fresh Brewed Nutrition Part II, we will discuss what’s in coffee that makes it so potentially healthy.

More Than Meets The Eye

Most people see coffee as a combination of two things: coffee beans and water.

Scientists that look at coffee under a microscope (literally) see coffee for what it really is: a unique chemical mixture made up of over a thousand diverse compounds.

Most of the compounds found in coffee are either benign or in such low quantities that they arent significant to human health. However, a few have been studied rather extensively and may be responsible for some of coffee’s ability to reduce disease risk.

Let’s take a look under the microscope ourselves at just a few of coffee’s healthy compounds:

Caffeine

The buzz that you get after that trip to Starbucks is due to caffeine’s ability to block the neurotransmitter adenosine. Adenosine is known to inhibit your central nervous system. When caffeine blocks adenosine, your nervous system gets a little boost.

Why is this important? Because this little boost has some pretty significant effects on your body. By increasing the activity of your central nervous system, caffeine  increases  your overall metabolism (known as your basal metabolic rate).

Although the research shows that drinking coffee alone is not going to get you the bikini body you’ve always wanted, it may aid your current weight loss efforts. If you are drinking coffee right before your workout that’s even better because coffee has been shown to help your body burn more fat when consumed before exercise.

Considering the wide range of chronic diseases that being overweight can bring on, it makes perfect sense that those that tend to consume lots of coffee tend to have a reduced risk of certain chronic diseases.

Chlorogenic Acid

“Coffee is loaded with antioxidants…” says veteran coffee researcher Terry Graham, PhD, of the University of Guelph. Chlorogenic acid is one such antioxidant that is extremely potent in coffee.

Antioxidants are compounds who’s job it is to fight molecules that damage your body’s cells. You want lots of antioxidants to be doing this work for you or else you leave yourself prone to an increase risk a whole host of diseases (cancer being the most closely tied to lack of antioxidant intake).

While eating lots of fruits and veggies is the best way to get antioxidants, most Americans get nowhere near what they should. Those that drink coffee may be making up for some of this deficit with a big dose of chlorogenic acid and thus protecting their cells from damage.

Micronutrients

Micronutrients, known to most as vitamins and minerals, are nutrients that our body requires in very small amounts. Although the amount may be small, not getting enough can have serious health consequences. For example, Vitamin C is a micronutrient and as you may know, not getting enough causes a nasty little condition called scurvy.

Some of the micronutients found in coffee:

• Magnesium
• Potassium
• Niacin
• Vitamin E

Researchers are still unsure how consuming these nutrients may improve health because most people get more than enough of most micronutrients (this is especially true if you take a multivitamin). Their best guess is that certain populations at high risk may require more of these nutrients than the average Joe. The ones that drink coffee get the extra amount and the ones that don’t…don’t.

Drink Up

I hope you enjoyed our brief journey into the world of coffee compounds. Next time you look at your morning cup, don’t be surprised if you find yourself squinting to try to see some chlorogenic acid.

In part III of Fresh Brewed Nutrition we will look at how coffee may help combat one of the greatest public health threats of our time: Type II Diabetes.

• Recommend on Facebook
• Tweet about it
• Tell a friend