For many, the days leading up to exams consist of droning late nights, which sometimes turn into early mornings, slaving away under piles of books at the library. It would be hard not to find students guzzling their fair share of Starbucks, 7-Eleven coffee, or even that hot liquid that claims to be coffee from the machines in the basement to keep them going through the night. Personally, I thrive on my morning coffee and have done so from a very early age. I inherited my addiction from my mother, and to this day a hot cup of coffee is what gets me out of bed in the morning and keeps me focused during those late study nights. For the Starbucks-suckers and caffeine addicts like myself there is good news!
For a long time, it seemed like coffee received a bad rap in the health department, always being falsely attributed to osteoporosis, heart attacks and pancreatic cancer. In the 1970s and ’80s its negative effects seemed to far outweigh its health benefits, but fear no more. Evidence has found that the antioxidants in coffee are associated with lowering the risk of Type 2 diabetes and reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. Have a sip of coffee while flipping through your flash cards and you can rest assured that coffee both improves short-term memory and increases dopamine production making you more motivated to get that A. Even if you partied a little too hard the night before, you are in the clear, for studies from the United States, Japan, Europe and Norway suggest that coffee protects the liver from cirrhosis, the replacement of liver tissue by fibrous scar tissue, caused by over-consumption of alcohol.
These benefits, keep in mind, are derived from black coffee, which only contains about five calories, and not from the sugar-sweetened concoctions under the guise of a coffee drink. As for the java chip frappuccinos and peppermint white chocolate mochas with whipped cream, concern should lie first and foremost in the amount of empty calories consumed rather than their health benefits.
And increasing your daily consumption of coffee may not be the most effective way to improve your health, but, hey, we have plenty of other things to worry about – like that test in just a few hours – at least now you can enjoy your coffee without concern.
Sarah Swanson is a sophomore CCPA and English major. She can be reached for comment at [email protected].
