Is Coffee a Health Drink?

Coffee lovers, the people who love coffee would be surprised to hear that their most beloved drink can also be considered as a health drink nowadays.

Before, coffee is not considered as a health drink because of its high caffeine content. But now, more and more studies show that coffee—in moderation—can be considered as a health drink because of the number of benefits one can enjoy from drinking it.

In most workplace settings, a normal person can consume at least four cups of steaming brewed coffee in a day. This is to keep him or her to stay alert and awake in the next hours. In most countries, coffee is considered as a staple drink. In fact, all over the world, people have their specialty coffee from beans that only grow and found in that part of the globe.

Health Drinks: A History

Ancient Chinese have long believed in the benefits of drinking natural health drinks to improve one’s health disposition.  Tea has been drunk for at least 4,000 years.  While coffee has been around for centuries.  Both have immense benefits for health improvement.

Tea was first discovered in China in 2737 B.C.  According to Chinese records, the emperor would only drink water which is boiled to make sure that it is indeed clean.  During a trip, a servant boiled water and a dried leaf fell on the boiling water.  It turned the water brown but was still served to the emperor.  The emperor drank the concoction and found it very refreshing.

Coffee, on the other hand, has can be traced as early as the 9th century.  Coffee was largely cultivated in Ethiopia.  Soon, the Arabs started trading it, bringing it to northern Africa where it was mass-cultivated.  After being popular in Africa, it started to enter Indian and European Markets.

Health Drink: Alcohol?

Studies have shown that those who consume alcohol in moderate amounts may have better health than does people who do not drink at all.  So would you qualify alcohol as a health drink?

These researches showed that those who drink alcohol moderately have lower risks and fewer heart attacks and strokes.  They are also less likely to have hypertension, peripheral artery disease, Alzheimer’s disease and even the common cold.

In the Old and New Testament, the medicinal properties of alcohol were mentioned.  In the early 1900s, moderate alcohol drinking was already associated with  decreasing the risk of heart attacks.  Since then, there are continuous research studying on the medical attributes of alcohol.

Green Tea is a Great Health Drink

Green tea is one of the best health drinks around. In fact, the Chinese have used this for more than 4,000 years which is why we should drink it as well and experience its benefits.

The benefits of drinking green tea include regulating your blood sugar, preventing certain cancers, fighting plaque, lowering your cholesterol and slowing down the aging process.

But what makes green tea so special is the fact that it is rich in catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate also known as EGCG.

This is a powerful anti-oxidant that does two things. First it inhibits the growth of cancer cells and second, it kills cancer cells without harming any healthy tissue. It also lowers your cholesterol by inhibiting the abnormal formation of blood clots which causes someone to have either a heart attack or stroke.