“Now, we’ve found out we’re going to live longer.”
While coffee has always been our favorite drink, there have been a couple of occasions when we’ve decided we weren’t going to consume any, because others insisted it was “harmful to our health.”
So, to prove we could, and as our form of penance during Lent, we quit drinking coffee.
However, after doing so, we vouched never to stop drinking coffee again, unless it was proven to cut our life short and/or ordered by a doctor.
Now, the good news is out: “Coffee is beneficial to your health.”
The story first appeared prolifically on September 29, National Coffee Day, so we had a great time of celebration.
Still, there are doomsayers who continue to preach “coffee is bad for the health. It’ll kill people, after 100 years of drinking it.”
Yet, to be fair for all sides, the argument we remember hearing from a co-worker 35 years ago: “Strong coffee will clog his arteries.”
Some scientific research backs that up: “The heart rate increases, muscles tighten, blood pressure booms, and blood vessels near the surface constrict.”
Another report we argued for six decades has proven true: “Caffeine causes sleep disturbances.” We used to drink coffee right before bed, and still go right to sleep for the entire night. Now, if we have an evening cup, it keeps us awake for a while.
Okay, here’s what we’ve been so anxious to report about coffee: “beneficial effect on alertness and performance; prevents cognitive decline; protects against Parkinson’s disease and depression; fights gout symptoms; significantly reduces exercise muscle pain; increases desire for romance; positive laxative effect and lowers risk for diabetes.”
Especially significant to us, coffee “protects against colorectal cancer, lowers risk for cirrhosis and liver cancer and reduces skin cancers.” However, most important, “coffee reduces risk for all causes of mortality.”
Yet, there is continued controversy on the subject, so the analytical advice of those much smarter than we are: “Avoid excessive coffee drinking. Moderation in everything is usually better.” And, “Enjoy your coffee if seems to work for you.”
Reminds us of Job 36: 14: “Living it up in excesses, they die young.” Thus, Proverbs 16:32: “Moderation is better than over indulgence.” Most importantly, John 10:10: “I came that they may have and enjoy life in abundance.”
+++ALLELUIA+++