Drinking coffee may offer protection against a stroke. According to a study by researcher Susanna Larsson found in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association, women who drank more than a cup of coffee a day had a 22 percent to 25 percent lower risk of stroke than those who drank less.
Larsson discovered similar results in a 2008 study she did on men when she found men who drank coffee or tea reduced their risk of stroke by 22 percent to 25 percent. Similar results were found in the Nurses Health Study in 2009 that found women who drank four or more cups of coffee a day had a 20 percent reduced risk of stroke compared to women who drank less than one cup a month.
Strokes are the third leading cause of death in the United States; strokes follow behind heart disease and cancer as the leading causes of death. Research continues to tell us that coffee has health benefits.
As physicians, we used to take people off coffee because we were cautious of coffee raising blood pressure or increasing a patient’s heart rate. But the emerging research is showing coffee may protective effects in many ways!
Top 3 Reasons to Drink Coffee
- Anti-cancer properties. In 2005, Harvard researchers found coffee drinkers were 50 percent less likely to get liver cancer than non-drinkers. Similar studies tied lower rates to breast and colon cancers.
- Protection against Parkinson’s disease. Coffee seems to protect men (but not women) against Parkinson’s. No reasons are exactly known, but it is caffeine specific to coffee.
- Prevent diabetes. Heavy drinkers are half as likely to get diabetes than light drinkers/non-drinkers. Coffee contains ingredients that lower blood sugar and increase resting metabolic rates.
