I regularly encourage you to drink three to four cups of this “miracle” beverage every day because it can help protect you against asthma, cancer, dementia, heart disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Type II diabetes.
And now, a brand-new study shows it can even protect against liver disease—a growing problem that affects 30 million Americans!
So, especially as the temperature outside gets colder, I hope you’ll pour yourself a steaming hot cup of this health elixir.
Because, as this important study shows, it’s quite beneficial to your health. (More details to come.)
Plus, there’s a lot of interesting history behind this “magic bean”…
Magic coffee beans originated in Africa
Coffee beans come from inside the berries of the coffee plant—a tall, tropical, bush-like evergreen. And even though we call them coffee beans…they’re technically seeds!
Today, more than 120 varieties of coffee plants grow around the world; and the two most popular are Robusta or Arabica.
People first started using coffee beans to make beverages in eastern Africa in the 1400s. In fact, according to legend, a shepherd on the Ethiopian plateau noticed that his goats became so energized after eating berries from an Arabica plant, they didn’t want to sleep at night.
The shepherd shared his observations with the abbot at the local monastery, who decided to make a hot drink with the berries. He found that the drink helped keep him alert and awake through his evening prayers.
By the 1500s, the use of coffee as a hot beverage began to spread to the Near East, through trade routes. And, like the abbot in Ethiopia, the Sufis in Yemen said the new drink prevented them from dozing off during long religious practices and meditations.
Before long, coffeehouses started appearing throughout the Muslim world. In fact, by 1570, there were more than 600 coffeehouses in Istanbul alone.
Less than 100 years later, the first coffeehouses started popping up further north in Venice, Italy, and, eventually, in Oxford, England. By the late 1600s, experts estimate there was one coffee shop for every 200 people in London.
Of course, the water still wasn’t safe to drink in London at that time. So, boiling water for coffee gave Londoners something safe to drink, other than alcoholic beverages. Plus, the coffeehouses served as sober community centers—allowing people to gather, talk, do business, and share common interests.
In other words, as many historians argue, the growing availability of coffee helped to transform the world!
We’ve come a long way…
When I was a child in France (and sometimes back in the U.S., too), I enjoyed a steaming cup of café au lait—coffee with milk—in the morning for breakfast.
Yet, here in the U.S., despite a long history of safe use and ongoing science showing its benefits, some still consider drinking coffee as a vice or a crutch. And most American parents wouldn’t dare let their children drink it.
But the truth is, studies show regular coffee consumption causes NO long-term health problems. And on the contrary, as the new study shows…it actually has numerous health benefits. Including protection for your liver!
In fact, researchers followed almost 500,000 men and women for 10 years in a new study. And it turns out, compared to non-coffee drinkers, coffee drinkers had a:
- 31 percent lower risk of developing chronic liver disease
- 20 percent lower risk of developing fatty liver disease
- 49 percent lower risk of DYING from chronic liver disease
- 20 percent lower risk of DYING from liver cancer
And it didn’t matter which kind of coffee the people drank—regular, instant, or decaffeinated. They still got the same remarkable benefits.
Of course, I always encourage you to stay away from decaffeinated coffee, as manufacturers may expose the natural beans to chemical solvents to artificially remove the caffeine. And I personally enjoy the taste of FRESH coffee over instant varieties. The important part, however, is that you enjoy the beverage—without guilt.
I recommend drinking your coffee black or with a little bit of full-fat milk or cream. Just be sure to avoid all those artificial sweeteners that come in every possible dessert flavor. (You could add a touch of honey or cinnamon for extra sweetness—or even a dash of cayenne pepper—for some extra flavor and heat!)
You can learn much more about the MANY health benefits of coffee in the August 2014 issue of Insiders’ Cures, my monthly newsletter (“Coffee: a jolt of good health”). If you’re not yet a subscriber, now is the perfect time to become one.
Sources:
“The History of Coffee.” National Coffee Association, accessed 11/11/21. (ncausa.org/about-coffee/history-of-coffee)
“All coffee types decrease the risk of adverse clinical outcomes in chronic liver disease: a UK Biobank study.” BMC Public Health 21, 970 (2021). doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10991-7