Coffee Benefits Essay Example for Free

Coffee Benefits Essay 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. [edit] Antidiabetic Coffee intake may reduce ones risk of diabetes mellitus type 2 by up to half. While this was originally noticed in patients who consumed high amounts (7 cups a day), the relationship was later shown to be linear. [12] [edit] Liver disease Coffee can also reduce the incidence of cirrhosis of the liver[13] and has been linked to a reduced risk of hepatocellular carcinoma, a primary liver cancer that usually arises in patients with preexisting cirrhosis. [14] The exact mechanism and the amount of coffee needed to achieve a beneficial effect are as yet unclear. [15] [edit] Cancer Coffee consumption is also correlated to a reduced risk of oral, esophageal, and pharyngeal cancer. [16][17] In ovarian cancer, no benefit was found. [18] In the Nurses Health Study, a modest reduction in breast cancer was observed in postmenopausal women only, which was not confirmed in decaffeinated coffee. [19] [edit] Cardioprotective Coffee reduces the incidence of heart disease, though whether this is simply because it rids the blood of excess lipids or because of its stimulant effect is unknown. [citation needed] [edit] Laxative/diuretic Coffee is also a powerful stimulant for peristalsis and is sometimes considered to prevent constipation; it is also a diuretic. However, coffee can also cause loose bowel movements. Practitioners in alternative medicine often recommend coffee enemas for cleansing of the colon due to its stimulus of peristalsis, although mainstream medicine has not proved any benefits of the practice. [edit] Antioxidant Coffee contains the anticancer compound methylpyridinium. This compound is not present in significant amounts in other food materials. Methylpyridinium is not present in raw coffee beans but is formed during the roasting process from trigonelline, which is common in raw coffee beans. It is present in both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee, and even in instant coffee. [20] http://ezinearticles. com/? Coffee-and-Its-Antioxidants-Healthier-Than-You-May-Realizeid=1235899 Did you know that coffee is chock full of antioxidants, an anticancer agent? If youve always thought coffee is bad for you, think again. Aside from keeping you alert and awake, coffee can also keep you young and fighting cancer. So, continue reading for answers to some frequently asked questions about coffee and its antioxidants. What are antioxidants? Antioxidants are any vitamin or nutrient that can help prevent cancer or damage to the heart and other tissues caused by free radicals. By neutralizing free radicals, they prevent cell degradation. Antioxidant rich foods include blueberries, raspberries, dates, chocolate and, of course, coffee. What type of antioxidants are in coffee? The antioxidants found in coffee are called polyphenols. More specifically, the compound is methylpridinium. The antioxidant isnt present in raw, green coffee beans, but is actually created during the roasting process. How much coffee is enough? Research has shown that people who drink one to two coffees a day have half the risk of developing liver cancer when compared to people who didnt drink coffee. Meanwhile, drinking 4 to 6 cups of coffee can reduce your risk for type-2 diabetes by as much as 50 percent. However, despite the reduced risk for these diseases and other cancers, like oral, esophageal, and pharyngeal cancer, doctors dont recommend you start drinking 10 cups a day. Coffee is still a stimulant and a diuretic and if drunk in excess can cause heart problems, anxiety and possible dangerously elevated blood pressure. Can I get these antioxidants from other sources? The specific antioxidant compound of methylpridinium is only found in substantial amounts in coffee. While other food sources like cranberries, dates and other antioxidant-rich foods contain different types of antioxidants, coffee is the primary source for this particular compound. (For other sources of antioxidants try bananas, dry beans, blueberries, pomegranates, lychees and the other foods listed above.) A recent study also found that the vast majority of North Americans get most of their antioxidants from beverages and, in particular, coffee. The average adult takes in about 1300 milligrams per day through coffee and the next source is tea at a mere 294 milligrams per day. Again, while coffee is one of our highest sources of antioxidants a great cancer-fighting and prevention agent coffee drinkers should always practice moderation. A cup or two a day may keep a number of common diseases away, but too much coffee can also cause problems. So balance is always a necessity.

Homeless Cafes :: Essays Papers

Homeless Cafes There seems to be a welcome trend unfolding in social services for the homeless. In place of large, impersonal soup kitchens, small cafes are springing up with a philosophy that is all too rare-treat the homeless with respect and dignity, and maybe they'll respond to available services. It began with Cafe 458 in Atlanta in 1988, which since has served as a model for similar cafes across the country. Cafe 458 was founded to serve good meals to small groups of homeless individuals, offer a comprehensive array of services, and empower those who eat at the Cafe. Part of its strategy to empower homeless persons is to treat them with dignity-the staff refer to those who eat there as guests, not clients, food is served on real dishes, artwork adorns the walls, and fresh flowers brighten each table. The Cafe serves only 28 guests at a time, all of whom are referred by area social service agencies. To be referred to the Cafe, clients must not be actively using drugs, have no recent history of violence, and have a strong desire to improve their lives. On the average, guests regularly eat at the Cafe for six months before they are able to find employment and/or housing. Since 1988, Cafe 458 has served only 1,000 people, but the staff considers its small numbers its strength. As Nancy Palchanis, executive director, explains, "It is not a feeding program. It is about empowerment. Soup kitchens feed too many people. Our advantage is in the small size." The small size of Cafe 458, and others like it, is translating into success in the lives of their guests . For example, The Bread and Roses Cafe, run by a social service agency in Venice, California, enrolls some of its clients in a six-week intensive course in restaurant work and 20 hours of on-thejob training. Sixty-seven of the 112 people who have completed the program are now employed by restaurants in the Los Angeles area. Fortunately for some of Chicago's homeless, they too have a similar place to turn-Inspiration Cafe, located in the Uptown community. Since 1991, Inspiration Cafe has served good-tasting and healthy meals to homeless individuals in Uptown and has provided them with a variety of comprehensive services. The Cafe was founded by Lisa Nigro, a former homeless in her community. Nigro began feeding the homeless in Uptown by carting around a red wagon filled with bagels and juice that she would serve to people waiting in lines at local shelters and soup kitchens.

Describe and Evaluate the Evolutionary Theory of Food Preferences

Describe and evaluate the evolutionary theory of food preferences According to an evolutionary approach current human behaviour can be understood in terms of how it may have been adaptive in our ancestral past. Evolutionary theorists are concerned with behaviour which is adaptive and having survival value, these researchers look for ultimate explanations. Current behaviours may be maladaptive and dysfunctional but can be understood as having been adaptive and functional in some way.To undertake this type of analysis they draw on the theory of natural selection and suggest that all species including humans, evolve through a process of natural selection and that only those characteristics that confer advantage or at least do not confer disadvantage survive as the species evolve. This is an interactionist approach, as an individual’s genetic predisposition is assumed to interact with their environment. In terms of eating behaviour, an evolutionary psychologist is interested in th e following questions: â€Å"Are there innate preferences for certain foods? †, â€Å"How would these preferences have been adaptive in the past? and â€Å"How do these preferences function now? † Early research by Davis investigated the eating behaviour of infants and young children. Davis observed the kinds of choice children living in a paediatric unit made in relation to their diet. Based on her data, Davis concluded that young children have an innate, regulatory mechanism and are able to select a healthy diet. However she emphasized that they could only do this if healthy food was available and suggested that the children’s food preferences changed over time and ere modified by experience. Subsequent research has provided further support for some form of innate regulatory mechanisms.For example, there is consistent evidence that newborn babies demonstrate innate food preferences. Using facial expressions and sucking behaviour as an index of preference, bab ies have been shown to prefer sweet tasting substances and to reject bitter tastes. There is also some evidence for an innate preference for salt, based on animal research, although this has been controversial together, these studies suggest that some food preferences are innate. Beauchamp and Moran (1982) reported however that six month old babies who were accustomed to drinking sweetened water drank more sweetened water than those babies who were not.So although innate food preferences may exist, these may be modified very quickly by learning and familiarity. Our early human ancestors lived in hunter-gatherer communities in which the men were responsible for hunting and the women were responsible for gathering. Their diets consisted mainly of fruits, berries, vegetables and some meat. Our innate food preferences can be explained in different forms. An innate preference for sweet foods would have encouraged people to eat fruit with its natural fructose content. Sweet foods in natur e provide important calories which are needed for energy.Natural avoidance of bitter foods would have helped to protect people from eating food that was poisonous. This would also have been helped by neophobia. A preference for salt is less easy to explain, although we do know that salt is essential for the sodium balance in our bodies. Sheep manage their sodium levels by licking naturally occurring minerals that contain salt because grass has very low sodium content. Human beings on the other hand have very little need for additional salt, particularly if they eat meat.The innate preference for salt may therefore have originally functioned by encouraging people to eat meat. In our ancestral past the main challenge facing people would have been avoiding malnutrition by eating enough food to support a physically active lifestyle. Our innate food preferences may have helped us to survive. However for much of the modern world, food is no longer scarce and our lives are no longer as phy sically active. Nowadays a preference for sweet foods may no longer encourage a person to eat berries, but rather to eat highly calorific, energy-dense foods, such as chocolate bars.Furthermore a preference for salty foods may facilitate the consumption of high-fat foods flavoured with salt, such as chips and processed foods. An evolutionary explanation for obesity has been put forward based on biological preferences for foods which cause overeating and problems with weight in our modern world, which has been called an â€Å"obesongenic environment†. There are many factors in our environment, such as fast food outlets and cars, which encourage an unhealthy lifestyle and may contribute to higher levels of obesity.Like biological explanations, evolutionary explanations of eating might be regarded as an oversimplification by suggesting that adaptiveness is the single, guiding principle. Such explanations are also determinists as they propose that eating behaviour is determined b y past environments, thereby overlooking the notion of free will and the fact that human behaviour is affected by many other factors such as thought, emotions and social factors. Evolutionary drives are moderated and modified by social drives. Evolutionary approaches can explain innate food preferences that were important for our ancestor’s survival.An innate preference for sweet foods may lead us to consume energy-dense foods, such as chocolate bars, which are longer needed in the current obesogenic environment of the Western world, and can help to explain the recent upsurge in obesity. Innate preferences for food can be used to demonstrate the wisdom of the body, the existence of biological drives and also the importance of the environment. It is also difficult to measure eating behaviour accurately in a research context. The central concept of adaptiveness can be applied to many behaviours, including eating and is difficult to demonstrate empirically or disapprove.This mea ns that we have no means of establishing the validity of the explanation. A strength of evolutionary explanations is that they consider ultimate causes and so may lead to more valid ways of treating seemingly maladaptive behaviours by taking account of their adaptive significance and not merely focusing on the proximate problem. Evolutionary explanations appear to suggest that we are no longer adapting to changing environmental conditions. Some scientists believe that humans are continuing to evolve both physically and psychological and are doing so at a faster rate that any other close species.

The Boys Building A Racetrack - 1207 Words

Play Observation paper#2 I chose to write about the boys building a racetrack in the play center. There is a boy named Bob who is in the center of the play frame. Bob wants to build a racetrack underneath the chairs that were lined up separating the boy’s side of the room from the girl’s side. I assume this long line of chairs was meant to divide the room by gender. Some of the toys being used were building blocks. One of the objectives in which we learned that boys tend to build towers came to light in this scene; there were two boys both building upward structures. Bob proposes the idea of building a racetrack to another boy who is playing with a toy car. Bob was the sole leader in deciding to build the racetrack, so he encounters the situation where he tries to explain to all of the other boys around him to join and help him. Bob begins explaining this idea that he believes is brilliant. The other boys seem to be hearing what Bob is saying, but throughout the video, it is hard to see if the other boys truly understood what Bob was saying to them. In order for the five-year-old boy to build his racetrack, he needs to use some of the blocks from the other students. Being the considerate five-year-old boy Bob is, he asks them if he can use their blocks, while also reassuring them that they can rebuild their previous structures after they finish the racetrack. Erik Erikson was a student of Sigmund Freud unlike Freud, Erikson considerably focused on the socialShow MoreRelatedA Brief Biography of Bing Crosby811 Words   |  3 Pages left for Los Angeles with hopes of a big break. Playing along the West Coast, the duet became a popular vaudeville act known as â€Å"Two Boys and a Piano.† They were soon hired by Paul Whitman, who at the time was known as the leader of the most popular jazz band in the country. 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