Something Else Saturday - Why You Can't Give Up Coffee

Recently my friend Dawn (of Dragonflies At Dawn blog fame) recently gave up coffee. ... I know, right? I don't like coffee - I LOVE coffee. Even though I own a Keurig, I have the accessory that lets me brew my choice of brand, which happens to be the fresh-roasted beans delivered to my doorstep by a local retailer.

When I told my family about her decision, my kids laughed and told me, "Yeah Mom, you could NEVER do that." And they're probably right. But it made me wonder if there was any benefit to drinking the stuff other than the fact that it helps keep my brain going to keep up with my busy-paced life. After some quick research, I found out that coffee does have benefits! Here are a few major ones:

1. Coffee relieves headache pain. It's true. Don't believe me? Check out the ingredients of a bottle of Excedrin Migraine. Caffeine energizes brain cells. When that happens, the blood vessels around them constrict. When the vessels constrict, it eases headache pain. Next time you have a headache, instead of grabbing a sugary soda or bottle of pain medicine, brew a pot of coffee instead.

2. Coffee has liver-friendly antioxidants. Limited research hints that people who drink coffee have a lower risk of getting liver disease. I'll leave it to you to find the statistics and figures but for me, any excuse to keep drinking coffee is enough of an excuse at all. You could tell me that drinking coffee would result in a pink pony with glitter hooves and a rainbow mane and tail would show up on my doorstep and I'd drink even more of it.

3. Coffee fights diabetes. When you drink coffee, your body's cells become more sensitive to insulin, which in turn regulates the amount of blood sugar in your body. However, a different study shows that caffeine is bad in this regard, so if this is your goal try the half-caff version of your favorite brew.

4. Coffee is heart-healthy. People who drink a few cups of coffee a day, or really even just one cup of coffee per day, are at a lower risk for having a stroke. Have you ever heard that blueberries are high in antioxidants, and thus good for your heart? Coffee has even more antioxidants than blueberries! Over a long period of time, coffee causes your blood vessels to widen a little more, which lowers your blood pressure.

If you're looking for great coffee with customer service that hearkens back to the days of Mom & Pop shops or main street soda fountains, then try Black Dog Coffee. He not only delivers locally for free, but he's also prepared to ship anywhere in the world.