Have Another Cup!

I love coffee, and I usually enjoy a cup or two of fresh brewed coffee every morning. The ritual of grinding the coffee beans, filling the electric coffee maker with clear cold water, filling the filter with the right amount of the dark fresh grounds and then listening to the perking hiss and drip, drip, drip of the brewed coffee filling the carafe is a comforting routine of morning.
As the deep coffee aroma fills the room I wait with gleeful anticipation. Ah, that first cup is just so satisfying! I often just sit and drink it quietly, with no distraction, just to savor it, and feel it's warmth awakening my body to the new day.
Later, with breakfast, I'll have a second cup and sometimes I would guiltily will pour a third cup, feeling that it was probably not a good habit and not very healthy for my body.

That is, until I read this health article from the New York Times, published January 23, 2009:

Coffee Linked to Lower Dementia Risk

An excerpt from the article:

"A team of Swedish and Danish researchers tracked coffee consumption in a group of 1,409 middle-age men and women for an average of 21 years. During that time, 61 participants developed dementia, 48 with Alzheimer’s disease.
After controlling for numerous socioeconomic and health factors, including high cholesterol and high blood pressure, the scientists found that the subjects who had reported drinking three to five cups of coffee daily were 65 percent less likely to have developed dementia, compared with those who drank two cups or less. "

It goes on to say that research shows that caffeine has been shown to reduce the formation of amyloid plaques in the brain which are one of the causes of Alzheimer’s disease, and that coffee may have an antioxidant effect which reduces the vascular risk factors for dementia. People who consume coffee have also been shown to have a reduced risk of Parkinson’s disease.

Another excerpt from the article:

"Dr. Miia Kivipelto, an associate professor of neurology at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and lead author of the study, does not as yet advocate drinking coffee as a preventive health measure. 'This is an observational study,' she said. 'We have no evidence that for people who are not drinking coffee, taking up drinking will have a protective effect.' "

It may be so, but for now I'll take my chances!

Would you like to join me in with another cup? Do you take it black, or with cream and sugar?