Drinking Coffee All the Time

January 13, 2014 was a red-letter day for coffee drinkers! Two major health-related stories were widely reported, starting with news (published in Nature Neuroscience ) that caffeine enhances “memory consolidation.” Although there have been lots of studies showing that coffee is a cognitive enhancer, there has never been a study in which study participants were asked to memorize something without the benefit of coffee, take caffeine after the memorization activity--- and then perform at a later date….until now. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University got 160 people between the ages of 18 and 30 to look at pictures of various things (ducks, etcetera) and to identify them as either “indoor” or “outdoor” objects. Shortly after this task, the participants received either a placebo tablet or a 200-mg caffeine pill. Then they left. 24 hours later, everyone was back at the study site looking at the same pictures. The goal was to determine whether the pictures were old, new

One source of joy at the beginning of a new year is the sense that we get a clean slate. A chance to be kinder, work harder, to fulfill dreams and be healthier. And while a common resolution to break bad habits (things like cigarette smoking, binge eating, hoarding, drinking too much and regretting it later, watching too much reality television, being overly engaged in social media at the expense of everything else…), you should not stop drinking coffee in 2014 (unless of course there is a compelling medical reason). The Health Benefits of Coffee  Drinking coffee not only significantly decreases the risk of type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, cirrhosis, and depression, but it is packed with antioxidants. Plus coffee is a good source of B vitamins. One serving of coffee contains 6% of the RDA of vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid), which supports the adrenal gland and functions as an anti-stress supplement. The same cup of coffee also provides 11% o