Coffee’s life-giving secret

Advertising and hype is everywhere. So it takes some effort to look behind the claims at the evidence.

But as you look further into the claims about coffee’s potential health effects, it’s getting hard to argue the drink’s many benefits.

A new review of other clinical trials finds that coffee drinkers live longer than people who don’t drink coffee, and have a lower risks of early death from heart disease and Parkinson’s, for example.

The naysayers generalize their claims about coffee, and refer to heavy coffee consumption or to heavy caffeine consumption from any source as a danger.

But this new review funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health says that in all their investigations, both caffeinated and non-caffeinated coffee have the same life-giving effect.

The studies looked at more than 200,000 U.S. doctors, nurses and other health professionals who were surveyed over 30 years.

The people who drank one to five cups of coffee had lower odds of dying during the study even when they took into account lifestyle habits and health problems like hypertension and diabetes.

Obviously, you want to stay away from too much sugar in your coffee. But don’t let the naysayers and the so-called “nutritionists” keep you away from adding some fatty cream, or even butter, to your coffee.

Blending nutrients into your coffee with healthy fats is an old-fashioned trick to keep you from being hungry. But in modern terms you might call it biohacking because the small drops of fat, or micelles, increase the absorption of the nutrients.

This is liquid biochemistry, and you will feel the difference after you drink your coffee.

Some other natural coffee additives that will pump nutrients into your system are:

• Turmeric, which will boost the total antioxidant content of the coffee, and reduce the bitter taste if that’s something that bothers you about coffee.
• Ginger, which is anti-inflammatory and excellent for stomach health.
• Maca, an adaptogen root from Peru that is high in nutrients and helps you absorb oxygen better. If you drink coffee before a morning workout, this is the additive for you.