The Benefits of Coffee
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Benefits
[edit] Reduced risk of Alzheimers disease
Several studies comparing moderate coffee drinkers (about 2 cups a day) with light coffee drinkers (less than one cup a day) found that those who drank more coffee were significantly less likely to develop Alzheimers disease later in life. [2][3]
[edit] Reduced risk of gallstone disease
Drinking caffeinated coffee has been correlated with a lower incidence of gallstones and gallbladder disease in both men[4] and women[5] in two studies performed by the Harvard School of Public Health. A lessened risk was not seen in those who drank decaffeinated coffee.
[edit] Reduced risk of Parkinsons disease
A study comparing heavy coffee drinkers (3.5 cups a day) with non-drinkers found that the coffee drinkers were significantly less likely to contract Parkinsons Disease later in life. [6]. Likewise, a second study found an inverse relationship between the amount of coffee regularly drunk and the likelihood of developing Parkinsons Disease. [7]
[edit] Cognitive performance
Many people drink coffee for its ability to increase short term recall and increase IQ[8].
Likewise, in tests of simple reaction time, choice reaction time, incidental verbal memory, and visuospatial reasoning, participants who regularly drank coffee were found to perform better on all tests, with a positive relationship between test scores and the amount of coffee regularly drunk. Elderly participants were found to have the largest effect associated with regular coffee drinking. [9] Another study found that women over the age of 80 performed significantly better on cognitive tests if they had regularly drunk coffee over their lifetimes. [10]
[edit] Analgesic enhancement
Coffee contains caffeine, which increases the effectiveness of pain killers, especially migraine and headache medications.[11] For this reason, many over-the-counter headache drugs include caffeine in their formula.