You may be worried that your addiction to coffee is becoming more like an unhealthy obsession, but you might start drinking even more coffee when you learn how many health benefits the wonderful liquid from the gods provides your mind and body.
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It Makes You Smarter
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It Helps You Burn Fat
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It Boosts Your Physical Performance
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It Lowers Your Risk of Diabetes
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It’s a Great Source of Nutrients
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It Can Protect You From Dementia and Alzheimer’s
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It Can Lower Your Risk of Parkinson’s
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It Can Combat Depression
Once the caffeine in coffee is absorbed into the bloodstream, it travels to the brain where it blocks off the neurotransmitter known as adenosine. This blockage allows the levels of other helpful neurotransmitters, such as dopamine and norepinephrine, to increase, which helps improve your memory, reaction time and overall mental function.
One of the reasons a majority of fat-burning supplements contain caffeine is because it helps scorch away fat the natural way. Studies have shown that caffeine can increase your overall metabolic rate anywhere from 3% to 11%. If you’re obese, drinking coffee can increase the burning of fat in your body by as much as 10% and as much as 29% in lean individuals. One thing to keep in mind with this benefit is that coffee’s fat burning capabilities can start to diminish the longer you drink it.
If you play sports, workout or just want to get in better shape, swig more coffee. In addition to instructing your body’s fat cells to break down deposits of fat by stimulating your nervous system, coffee also elevates the level of adrenaline in your blood. As your body eats away at fat, the remains are converted to free fatty acids and fuel. Studies have shown that drinking coffee can improve your overall physical performance by as much as 12%. Enjoy a nice cup of coffee about an hour before your game or workout.
Specifically, coffee lowers your overall risk of Type II diabetes, which affects approximately 300 million individuals across the globe. Type II diabetes is characterized by an individual’s inability to secrete insulin, insulin resistance and high blood sugars. Drinking coffee can lower your risk of Type II diabetes anywhere between 23 and 50%. There’s even one study that shows you can potentially lower your risk by as much as 67%. No matter which figure is more accurate, sipping on coffee is most definitely a great way to keep Type II diabetes at bay.
A lot of the nutrients found in coffee beans remain when you brew them into a liquid. Just one cup of coffee is a great source of magnesium, niacin, pantothenic acid, riboflavin and manganese. If you drink several cups of coffee throughout the day, you’re getting even more of these helpful nutrients.
While a cure for Alzheimer’s has yet to be discovered, drinking coffee can protect you from the disease by as much as 65%. Alzheimer’s is a leading neurodegenerative disease and the number one cause of dementia. If you’re in your late 50s or early 60s, this tip is an especially useful one since Alzheimer’s mainly affects individuals over the age of 65. In addition to drinking coffee, you should also eat healthy to help protect your mind from developing Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
After Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s is the second most common neurodegenerative disease. Parkinson’s is characterized by the elimination of neurons in the brain that create dopamine. Since there’s not yet a cure for Parkinson’s, it’s important you take preventative measures.
Drinking coffee can lower your risk of Parkinson’s disease anywhere from roughly 30 to 60%. It’s important to bear in mind that studies have shown that it’s caffeine that helps protect a person against Parkinson’s, so drinking decaf won’t offer the same benefits.
Make yourself a cup of coffee the next time you’re feeling down. About four percent of U.S. citizens are classified as having clinical depression, and drinking at least four cups of coffee a day can lower a person’s risk of suffering from depression.
And so with these top eight great benefits to drinking coffee, rather than worry about drinking too much coffee, perhaps we should be more concerned about the people who aren’t drinking enough!
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