Edited By Jonathan D. Kantrowitz
Published by Tsadek Press
Copyright, Jonathan Kantrowitz 2014
8.5 x 11, 142 pages
$12.95
2 Tsadek Press books $19.95
3 Tsadek Press books $24.95
Call 1-800-232--2224 to order a pdf of this title
Which is best for you, coffee, tea or chocolate? Of course
you don’t have to choose to use just one, but if you did which one should it
be?
It’s a hard choice, since, as the Table of Contents below confirms, each
offers benefits in the fights against cancer, heart disease, cognitive decline
and dementia, as well as a myriad of other health benefits.
If you are thinking of investigating the health benefits of
coffee, tea or chocolate, whether with a mind to use all theree or choose one
or two, this fascinating book is an indispensable cornucopia of research reports
outlining all the healthy wonders of each of these.
It’s just unbelievable how adding a little coffee, tea or
CHOCOLATE! to you daily diet can do so much for you!
2 Tsadek Press books $19.95
3 Tsadek Press books $24.95
Call 1-800-232--2224 to order a pdf of this title
Which is best for you, coffee, tea or chocolate? Of course
you don’t have to choose to use just one, but if you did which one should it
be?
It’s a hard choice, since, as the Table of Contents below confirms, each
offers benefits in the fights against cancer, heart disease, cognitive decline
and dementia, as well as a myriad of other health benefits.
If you are thinking of investigating the health benefits of
coffee, tea or chocolate, whether with a mind to use all theree or choose one
or two, this fascinating book is an indispensable cornucopia of research reports
outlining all the healthy wonders of each of these.
It’s just unbelievable how adding a little coffee, tea or
CHOCOLATE! to you daily diet can do so much for you!
Table of Contents
Health Benefits of
Coffee
General Benefits
Mortality Benefits
Heart Attack and Stroke Benefits
Cancer Benefits
Cognitive Decline/Dementia Benefits
Diabetes Benefits
Athletic Performance/Exercise Benefits
Liver Disease Benefits
Miscellaneous Benefits
Green Coffee Beans/Weight Loss
Health Benefits of
Green and White Tea
Maximizing Benefits, Minimizing Risks
White Tea vs. Green Tea
Heart Attack and Stroke Benefits
Cancer Benefits
Cognitive Decline/Dementia Benefits
Immune Function Benefits
Osteoporosis (Bone) & Inflammation Benefits
Diabetes Benefits
Miscellaneous Benefits
Health Benefits of
Chocolate
General Benefits
Heart Attack and Stroke Benefits
Cancer Benefits
Cognitive Decline/Dementia Benefits
Weight Benefits
Mood Benefits
Exercise Benefits
Miscellaneous Benefits
______________________________________________
Sample reports
Moderate coffee drinking
reduces many risks
Coffee drinkers have lower risk
of death
Green,
black tea can reduce stroke risk
Sample reports
Moderate coffee drinking
reduces many risks
Although
the American Society for Nutrition’s popular “controversy session” at
Experimental Biology 2007 focuses on the health effects of coffee drinking,
panel chair Dr. James Coughlin, a toxicology/safety consultant at Coughlin
& Associates, says that recent advances in epidemiologic and experimental
knowledge have transformed many of the negative health myths about coffee
drinking into validated health benefits.
Indeed, panel
co-chair Dan Steffen, who follows coffee and health issues in the Scientific
and Regulatory Affairs group of Kraft Foods, note that the “controversy” is
often to educate a wider audience about this transformation in understanding.
Coffee is among
the most widely consumed beverages in the world, and Dr. Coughlin says that the
preponderance of scientific evidence - some by the panelists - suggests that
moderate coffee consumption (3-5 cups per day) may be associated with reduced
risk of certain disease conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease. Some research
in neuropharamacology suggests that one cup of coffee can halve the risk of
Parkinson’s disease. Other studies have found it reduces the risk of
Alzheimer's disease, kidney stones, gallstones, depression and even suicide.
Dr. Coughlin and
two distinguished researchers discussed some of the benefits - and a couple of
the remaining increased risk factors (possible increase in blood pressure and
plasma homocysteine) - at the Experimental Biology meeting in Washington, DC.
Dr. Rob van Dam,
an epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Harvard
Medical School, studies the link between diet and the development of type 2
diabetes. Worldwide, an estimated 171 million persons have diabetes, mostly
type 2 diabetes, and an alarming increase to 366 million persons is expected
for the year 2030. While increased physical activity and restriction of energy
intake can substantially reduce risk of type 2 diabetes, he believes insight
into the role of other lifestyle factors may contribute to additional
prevention strategies for type 2 diabetes.
In recent
epidemiological studies in the U.S., Europe and Japan, persons who were heavy
coffee consumers had a lower risk of type 2 diabetes than persons who consumed
little coffee. Interestingly, he says, associations were similar for
caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee, suggesting that coffee components other
than caffeine may be beneficial for glucose metabolism.
Coffee contains
hundreds of components including substantial amounts of chlorogenic acid,
caffeine, magnesium, potassium, vitamin B3, trigonelline, and lignans. Limited
evidence suggests that coffee may improve glucose metabolism by reducing the
rate of intestinal glucose absorption and by stimulating the secretion of the
gut hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) that is beneficial for the
secretion of insulin. However, most mechanistic research on coffee and glucose
metabolism has been done in animals and in lab tubes and therefore metabolic
studies in humans are currently being conducted. Further research may lead to
the development or selection of coffee types with improved health effects.
Dr. Lenore Arab,
a nutritional epidemiologist in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, notes
that the first coffee controversy dates back 430 years when in 1570 some monks
petitioned the pope to condemn this drink, so popular among Muslims. Pope
Clement VIII, liking how it kept the monks from falling sleep during mass,
purportedly blessed it instead. The rest, including the United States’
wholesale conversion to coffee following the Boston Tea Party, is history.
In reviewing the
latest epidemiologic literature on cancers and coffee, Dr. Arab has found there
to be close to 400 studies of the associations between coffee consumption and
cancers various at various sites. The earlier controversy with regard to colon
cancer was based on flawed analyses, she says. More thorough analyses and the
accumulation of evidence suggest no negative effect on the incidence of colon
cancer, and possible protective effects for adenomas of the colon as well as
for rectal cancer and liver cancer. Mechanisms which might contribute to a
possible anticarcinogenic effect include reduction in cholesterol, bile acid
and neutral sterol secretion in the colon, increased colonic motility and
reduced exposure of epithelium to carcinogens, the ability of diterpenes to
reduce genotoxicity of carcinogens, and lower DNA adduct formation, and the
ability of caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid to decreased DNA methylation. In
other cancers - breast, ovarian, and prostate - the evidence is not suggestive
of either risk or protection. There are two areas, says Dr. Arab, in which
there is some evidence of increased risk: leukemia and stomach cancer. The
evidence for the former is intriguing, for the latter insubstantial. She
concludes that a systematic review of the newer data for liver, rectal, stomach
cancer and for childhood leukemia is due.
Coffee drinkers have lower risk
of death
Older adults who
drank coffee -- caffeinated or decaffeinated -- had a lower risk of death
overall than others who did not drink coffee, according a study by researchers
from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of
Health, and AARP.
Coffee drinkers
were less likely to die from heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke,
injuries and accidents, diabetes, and infections, although the association was
not seen for cancer. These results from a large study of older adults were
observed after adjustment for the effects of other risk factors on mortality,
such as smoking and alcohol consumption. Researchers caution, however, that
they can’t be sure whether these associations mean that drinking coffee
actually makes people live longer. The results of the study were published in
the May 17, 2012, edition of the New
England Journal of Medicine.
Neal Freedman,
Ph.D., Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, NCI, and his colleagues
examined the association between coffee drinking and risk of death in 400,000
U.S. men and women ages 50 to 71 who participated in the NIH-AARP Diet and
Health Study. Information about coffee intake was collected once by
questionnaire at study entry in 1995-1996. The participants were followed until
the date they died or Dec. 31, 2008, whichever came first.
The researchers
found that the association between coffee and reduction in risk of death
increased with the amount of coffee consumed. Relative to men and women who did
not drink coffee, those who consumed three or more cups of coffee per day had
approximately a 10 percent lower risk of death. Coffee drinking was not
associated with cancer mortality among women, but there was a slight and only
marginally statistically significant association of heavier coffee intake with
increased risk of cancer death among men.
“Coffee is one
of the most widely consumed beverages in America, but the association between
coffee consumption and risk of death has been unclear. We found coffee
consumption to be associated with lower risk of death overall, and of death
from a number of different causes,’’ said Freedman. “Although we cannot infer a
causal relationship between coffee drinking and lower risk of death, we believe
these results do provide some reassurance that coffee drinking does not
adversely affect health.”
The
investigators caution that coffee intake was assessed by self-report at a
single time point and therefore might not reflect long-term patterns of intake.
Also, information was not available on how the coffee was prepared (espresso,
boiled, filtered, etc.); the researchers consider it possible that preparation
methods may affect the levels of any protective components in coffee.
“The mechanism
by which coffee protects against risk of death -- if indeed the finding
reflects a causal relationship -- is not clear, because coffee contains more
than 1,000 compounds that might potentially affect health,’’ said Freedman.
``The most studied compound is caffeine, although our findings were similar in
those who reported the majority of their coffee intake to be caffeinated or
decaffeinated.”
Green tea, coffee may help lower stroke
risk
Green tea and
coffee may help lower your risk of having a stroke, especially when both are a
regular part of your diet, according to research published in Stroke: Journal
of the American Heart Association.
"This is
the first large-scale study to examine the combined effects of both green tea
and coffee on stroke risks," said Yoshihiro Kokubo, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.H.A.,
F.A.C.C., F.E.S.C., lead author of the study at Japan's National Cerebral and
Cardiovascular Center. "You may make a small but positive lifestyle change
to help lower the risk of stroke by adding daily green tea to your diet."
Researchers
asked 83,269 Japanese adults about their green tea and coffee drinking habits,
following them for an average 13 years. They found that the more green tea or
coffee people drink, the lower their stroke risks.
- People who drank
at least one cup of coffee daily had about a 20 percent lower risk of stroke
compared to those who rarely drank it.
- People who
drank two to three cups of green tea daily had a 14 percent lower risk of
stroke and those who had at least four cups had a 20 percent lower risk,
compared to those who rarely drank it.
- People who
drank at least one cup of coffee or two cups of green tea daily had a 32
percent lower risk of intracerebral hemorrhage, compared to those who rarely
drank either beverage. (Intracerebral hemorrhage happens when a blood vessel
bursts and bleeds inside the brain. About 13 percent of strokes are
hemorrhagic.)
Participants in
the study were 45 to 74 years old, almost evenly divided in gender, and were
free from cancer and cardiovascular disease.
During the
13-years of follow-up, researchers reviewed participants' hospital medical
records and death certificates, collecting data about heart disease, strokes
and causes of death. They adjusted their findings to account for age, sex and lifestyle
factors like smoking, alcohol, weight, diet and exercise.
Green tea
drinkers in the study were more likely to exercise compared to non-drinkers.
Previous limited
research has shown green tea's link to lower death risks from heart disease,
but has only touched on its association with lower stroke risks. Other studies
have shown inconsistent connections between coffee and stroke risks.
Initial study
results showed that drinking more than two cups of coffee daily was linked to
increasing coronary heart disease rates in age- and sex-adjusted analysis. But
researchers didn't find the association after factoring in the effects of
cigarette smoking — underscoring smoking's negative health impact on heart and
stroke health.
A typical cup of
coffee or tea in Japan was approximately six ounces. "However, our
self-reported data may be reasonably accurate, because nationwide annual health
screenings produced similar results, and our validation study showed relatively
high validity." Kokubo said. "The regular action of drinking tea,
coffee, largely benefits cardiovascular health because it partly keeps blood
clots from forming."
Tea and coffee
are the most popular drinks in the world after water, suggesting that these
results may apply in America and other countries.
It's unclear how
green tea affects stroke risks. A compound group known as catechins may provide
some protection. Catechins have an antioxidant anti-inflammatory effect,
increasing plasma antioxidant capacity and anti-thrombogenic effects.
Some chemicals
in coffee include chlorogenic acid, thus cutting stroke risks by lowering the
chances of developing type 2 diabetes. Further research could clarify how the
interaction between coffee and green tea might help further lower stroke risks,
Kokubo said.
High and moderate consumption of tea are
linked with reduced heart disease
High and
moderate consumption of tea are linked with reduced heart disease, according to
a study published in Arteriosclerosis,
Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology: Journal of the American Heart
Association.
Researchers in
The Netherlands found:
- Drinking more
than six cups of tea per day was associated with a 36 percent lower risk of
heart disease compared to those who drank less than one cup of tea per day.
-
Drinking three to six cups of tea per day was associated with a 45 percent
reduced risk of death from heart disease, compared to consumption of less than
one cup per day.
Green,
black tea can reduce stroke risk
Drinking at
least three cups of green or black tea a day can significantly reduce the risk
of stroke, a new UCLA study has found. And the more you drink, the better your
odds of staving off a stroke.
The study
results, published in the online edition of Stroke:
Journal of the American Heart Association, were presented Feb. 19, 2009 at
the American Heart Association's annual International Stroke Conference in San
Diego, Calif.
The UCLA
researchers conducted an evidence-based review of all human observational
studies on stroke and tea consumption found in the PubMed and Web of Science
archives. They found nine studies describing 4,378 strokes among nearly 195,000
individuals, according to lead author Lenore Arab, a professor of medicine in
the division of general internal medicine and health services research at the
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
"What we
saw was that there was a consistency of effect of appreciable magnitude,"
said Arab, who is also a professor of biological chemistry. "By drinking
three cups of tea a day, the risk of a stroke was reduced by 21 percent. It
didn't matter if it was green or black tea."
And
extrapolating from the data, the effect appears to be linear, Arab said. For
instance, if one drinks three cups a day, the risk falls by 21 percent; follow
that with another three cups and the risk drops another 21 percent. This effect
was found in tea made from the plant Camellia sinensis, not from herbal teas.
There are very
few known ways to reduce the risk of stroke, Arab said. And developing
medications for stroke victims is particularly challenging, given that the drug
has to get to the stroke-damaged site quickly because damage occurs so fast.
Arab said that by the time a stroke victim gets medical care, it's nearly too
late to impede the damage.
"That's why
these findings are so exciting," she said. "If we can find a way to
prevent the stroke, or prevent the damage, that is simple and not toxic, that
would be a great advance. Though no one is certain which compounds in tea are
responsible for this effect, researchers have speculated that the antioxidant
epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) or the amino acid theanine may be what helps.
Antioxidants are believed to help prevent coronary artery disease.
"And we do
know that theanine is nearly 100-percent absorbed," Arab said. "It
gets across the blood-brain barrier and it looks a lot like a molecule that's
very similar to glutamate, and glutamate release is associated with stroke. It
could be that theanine and glutamate compete for the glutamate receptor in the
brain," she added.
Although a
randomized clinical trial is needed to confirm this effect, the findings
suggest that drinking three cups of green or black tea a day could help prevent
an ischemic stroke.
A
little dark chocolate = less blood pressure
Consumption of small amounts of dark chocolate associated
with reduction in blood pressure
Eating about 30 calories a day of dark chocolate was
associated with a lowering of blood pressure, without weight gain or other
adverse effects, according to a study in JAMA.
Previous research has indicated that consumption of high
amounts of cocoa-containing foods can lower blood pressure (BP), believed to be
due to the action of the cocoa polyphenols (a group of chemical substances
found in plants, some of which, such as the flavanols, are believed to be
beneficial to health). “A particular concern is that the potential BP reduction
contributed by the flavanols could be offset by the high sugar, fat and calorie
intake with the cocoa products,” the authors write. The effect of low cocoa
intake on BP is unclear.
Dirk Taubert, M.D., Ph.D., of University Hospital of
Cologne, Germany, and colleagues assessed the effects of low regular amounts of
cocoa on BP. The trial, conducted between January 2005 and December 2006,
included 44 adults (age 56 through 73 years; 24 women, 20 men) with untreated
upper-range prehypertension (BP 130/85 – 139/89) or stage 1 hypertension (BP
140/90 – 160/100). Participants were randomly assigned to receive for 18 weeks
either 6.3 g (30 calories) per day of dark chocolate containing 30 mg
polyphenols or matching polyphenol-free white chocolate.
The researchers found that from baseline to 18 weeks, dark
chocolate intake reduced average systolic BP by −2.9 (1.6) mm Hg and diastolic
BP by −1.9 (1.0) mm Hg without changes in body weight, plasma levels of lipids
or glucose. Hypertension prevalence declined from 86 percent to 68 percent.
Systolic and diastolic BP remained unchanged throughout the treatment period
among those in the white chocolate group. Dark chocolate consumption resulted
in the short-term appearance of cocoa phenols in plasma and increased
vasodilatory S-nitrosoglutathione. There was no change in plasma biomarkers in
the white chocolate group.
“Although the magnitude of the BP reduction was small, the
effects are clinically noteworthy. On a population basis, it has been estimated
that a 3-mm Hg reduction in systolic BP would reduce the relative risk of
stroke mortality by 8 percent, of coronary artery disease mortality by 5
percent, and of all-cause mortality by 4 percent,” the authors write.
“The most
intriguing finding of this study is that small amounts of commercial cocoa
confectionary convey a similar BP-lowering potential compared with
comprehensive dietary modifications that have proven efficacy to reduce
cardiovascular event rate. Whereas long-term adherence to complex behavioral
changes is often low and requires continuous counseling, adoption of small
amounts of flavanol-rich cocoa into the habitual diet is a dietary modification
that is easy to adhere to and therefore may be a promising behavioral approach
to lower blood pressure in individuals with above-optimal blood pressure.
Future studies should evaluate the effects of dark chocolate in other
populations and evaluate long-term outcomes,” the authors conclude.
Dark chocolate: Half a bar per week to keep at bay the risk
of heart attack
An Italian study, the
first outcome of a large epidemiological investigation, finds new beneficial
effects of chocolate in the prevention of cardiovascular disease
6.7 grams of
chocolate per day represent the ideal amount for a protective effect against
inflammation and subsequent cardiovascular disease.
The findings,
published in the Journal of Nutrition,
official journal of the American Society of Nutrition, come from one of the
largest epidemiological studies ever conducted in Europe, the Moli-sani
Project, which has enrolled 20,000 inhabitants of the Molise region so far. By
studying the participants recruited, researchers focused on the complex
mechanism of inflammation. It is known how a chronic inflammatory state
represents a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease, from
myocardial infarction to stroke, just to mention the major diseases. Keeping
the inflammation process under control has become a major issue for prevention
programs and C reactive protein turned out to be one of the most promising markers,
detectable by a simple blood test.
"We started
from the hypothesis- says Romina di Giuseppe, 33, lead author of the study-
that high amounts of antioxidants contained in the cocoa seeds, in particular
flavonoids and other kinds of poly-phenols, might have beneficial effects on
the inflammatory state. Our results have been absolutely encouraging: people
having moderate amounts of dark chocolate regularly have significantly lower
levels of C-reactive protein in their blood. In other words, their inflammatory
state is considerably reduced." The 17% average reduction observed may
appear quite small, but it is enough to decrease the risk of cardiovascular
disease for one third in women and one fourth in men. It is undoubtedly a
remarkable outcome".
Chocolate amounts
are critical. "We are talking of a moderate consumption. The best effect
is obtained by consuming an average amount of 6.7 grams of chocolate per day,
corresponding to a small square of chocolate twice or three times a week.
Beyond these amounts the beneficial effect tends to disappear".
From a practical
point of view, as the common chocolate bar is 100 grams, the study states that
less than half a bar of dark chocolate consumed during the week may become a
healthy habit. What about the milk chocolate? "Previous studies- the young
investigator continues- have demonstrated that milk interferes with the
absorption of polyphenols. That is why our study considered just the dark
chocolate".
Researchers wanted
to sweep all the doubts away. They took into account that chocolate lovers
might consume other healthy food too, as wine, fruits and vegetables. Or they
might exercise more than others people do. So the observed positive effect
might be ascribed to other factors but not to cocoa itself. "In order to
avoid this - researcher says - we "adjusted" for all possible
"confounding" parameters. But the beneficial effect of chocolate
still remained and we do believe it is real".
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