By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

June 27, 2014

• Is it okay to drink coffee?
• Rev up your health with a cup of joe
• This is even better than coffee

Everyone has a “bad habit” or two they’d like to break. And most of them are justified.

I have patients who are struggling to kick their soda habits, say goodbye to submarine sandwiches and pass up on their favorite pasta dishes in the name of good health.

But one of the hardest to give up is coffee… java… joe.

Well, here’s the thing…

I don’t normally advise my patients to give up coffee unless it makes them feel jittery, anxious or gives them migraines. Instead, I simply caution them to buy organic coffee, since commercially grown coffee is loaded with pesticides. I also warn them against using sugar, cream and artificially flavored creamers.

That’s because coffee isn’t the evil-doer we’ve all been led to believe.

Over the years it’s been blamed for everything from stunting your growth to causing heart disease and cancer. So, it’s no wonder so many people are trying to break their coffee habits.

Today, however, we know better. In fact, it turns out drinking a couple cups of coffee each day may have some health benefits. It can protect against type 2 diabetes, improve your heart health, reduce your risk of cancer, help stave off depression, and reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia. It can even help you live longer!

What’s the magic ingredient in coffee that makes it so healthy?

Coffee contains a natural compound called chlorogenic acid (CHA). This is a powerful antioxidant that gives the caffeine in coffee its protective power. And it does all sorts of good things for your body…

Lower your chances of type 2 diabetes. One of the ways CHA really shines is that it helps you take charge of your blood sugar. CHA helps block the absorption of sugar in your intestines. And it even goes a step further. It also suppresses your liver from producing glucose after a meal. In the end, it’s a one-two punch that helps control those wild blood sugar swings and insulin spikes that can lead to diabetes.

Shed those extra pounds. When you gain control of your blood sugar and insulin response, you’ll also get a side benefit. You see, excess insulin triggers fat storage. But when you stabilize your insulin response, your body will stop storing fat and start using it for energy. This means the CHA in coffee can keep your weight from creeping up… and help you drop those extra pounds if you’re overweight.

Take control of your blood pressure. When you drink a cup of coffee, about a third of the CHA gets absorbed into your blood. Once in the bloodstream, it increases the amount of nitric oxide in your blood vessels. This, in turn, relaxes your arteries and lowers blood pressure.

Protect your arteries from blockages. When it comes to your heart health, CHA isn’t just good for your blood pressure. It also helps prevent cholesterol from becoming oxidized. This is great news, because cholesterol actually performs an important healing function in your blood vessels. But, when it becomes oxidized, that’s when it starts forming plaques and clogging up your arteries.

Cut down your risk of cancer. Drinking coffee on a regular basis lowers your chances of bladder, breast, colon, liver, pancreatic and prostate cancers. It’s especially potent when it comes to liver cancer. Just two cups a day can reduce your risk of liver cancer by about 40%. It’s believed the potent antioxidant power behind CHA is key to coffee’s cancer-fighting potential.

With all these great health benefits, I’ll bet you’re ready to brew up a pot of coffee right now. But, before you do that, I want to let you know about an even better way to get your CHA…

A cup of coffee will definitely provide you with some CHA. But you’d have to drink about five cups a day to really get the full benefit. And not everyone can handle that much coffee.

You might find it keeps you up at night or gives you acid reflux. In some people it can trigger migraines. Others tend to get nervous and jittery when they overdo it on the coffee. Plus, there are a lot of people who just don’t like the taste of it.

That’s exactly why green coffee bean extract is so exciting.

Green coffee bean extract is made from the coffea canephora bean. It contains chlorogenic acids, just like regular coffee does. But the concentration is much, much higher. In fact, it contains a 270% higher concentration of CHA than coffee does.

It’s great, because you get the concentrated CHA without having to drink cup after cup of coffee every day.

All it takes is 200 mg. twice a day before your heaviest meals.

Just one word of caution. If you’re on any medications for blood sugar, blood pressure or cholesterol, be sure to work with your physician and monitor your levels if you decide to try green coffee bean extract – then back off the pharmaceuticals as needed.

Sources:
Sartorelli DS et al. “Differential effects of coffee on the risk of type 2 diabetes according to meal consumption in a French cohort of women: the E3N/EPIC cohort study.” Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Apr;91(4):1002-12.

Yu X, et al. “Coffee consumption and risk of cancers: a meta-analysis of cohort studies.” BMC Cancer. 2011 Mar 15;11:96.

Lucas M, et al. “Coffee, caffeine, and risk of depression among women.” Arch Intern Med. 2011 Sep 26;171(17):1571-8.

Eskelinen MH, et al. “Caffeine as a protective factor in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.” J Alzheimers Dis. 2010;20 Suppl 1:S167-74.

Freedman ND, et al. “Association of coffee drinking with total and cause-specific mortality.” N Engl J Med. 2012 May 17;366(20):1891-904.

Zhao Y, et al. “Antihypertensive effects and mechanisms of chlorogenic acids.” Hypertens Res. 2012 Apr;35(4):370-4.

Larsson SC, et al. “Coffee consumption and risk of liver cancer: a meta-analysis.” Gastroenterology. 2007 May;132(5):1740-5. Epub 2007 Mar 24.