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Have a Cup of Coffee to Start the Year

January 3rd, 2012

The euphoria of celebrating the New Year has began to wane and we are now trying to sort out the things left off at the onset of the holiday season.

And what a sorting out it is. Bills to pay, projects half-done, cleaning up the mess left by the celebrations, and all the other things people usually attend to at the beginning of the year. Not least among these is how to get rid of the extra weight from the excesses celebrations are always guilty of.

To calm our edgy nerves, we get hold of a cup of strong black coffee. Some call this a death wish while others a means for survival.

Through generations, people have always had a love-hate relationship with this brew that originated from the tropics. When I was in the insurance business, one of the favorite scare stories among life insurance underwriters is this:

“If you are middle-aged, a workaholic, smokes and drinks coffee, you are a candidate for coronary heart problems”

But is coffee really that bad?

There really is no clear answer to that except to say that “one man’s poison is another man’s meat.”

I guess we all have had a huge dose of the bad boy image coffee so I’d like to leave it at that. No sense in rubbing salt on an open wound.

But coffee does have a good boy image, too. And that’s what I’d like to dwell on.

The good side of a cup of coffee:

Coffee contains caffeine, a drug that affects the central nervous system. In moderate amounts, it can increase alertness and reduce fine motor coordination. Now you know why the urge to grab a cup of coffee is strongest when we are at the edgiest.

Aside from that, researchers have recently observed that a cup of coffee can:

1. Ward off depression:

A study conducted by the Harvard School of public health showed that women who regularly drink fully caffeinated coffee had 20% lower risk of depression than those who don’t.

2. It may promote healthy weight:

The caffeine in a cup of coffee decreases the rate at which the stomach dumps its contents into that part of the intestines where digestion takes place making our body to slowly process the meal we eat.

No, downing a cup after a meal is not going to work. Rather sip it slowly to help the stomach do its job effectively.

3. It may boost male fertility:

Studies done at the HRC Fertility in California shows that caffeine has a positive effect on sperm motility – the ability of sperm to move towards an egg, thus increasing the chances of getting a woman pregnant.

And it doesn’t matter whether you drink a cup or 10 cups. The effect is the same.

Don’t mistake fertility and libido, though. Coffee may make you alert, not necessarily horny.

4. It may reduce your risk of getting skin cancer:

Studies done at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital showed that women who drank more than three cups of coffee a day had a 20% lower risk for squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma and a 9% risk reduction in men.

Nothing is said about the deadlier forms of skin cancer so it is still prudent to use a good sun blocker if you stay outdoors long periods of time.

5. It is not really addictive:

A coffee drinker does not a coffee addict make.

Studies done at the University of California at Davis show that caffeine is not addictive and the World Health Organization states that “it is wrong to compare caffeine intake and drug addiction, since people can reduce or eliminate caffeine from their diet without any serious psychological or physical problems from a true drug addiction”

Serious coffee drinkers, however, may experience fatigue and irritability if they don’t get their regular dose.

People who consume six small cups of coffee a day belong to this category.

You still feel edgy and couldn’t get started a few days into the new year? Grab a cup of coffee. It will do you much good.

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Things to Keep Away From Before Bedtime

August 23rd, 2010

“Two things I do before hitting the sack”

As children, my father made sure that we had a shower and a good supper before bedtime. They stuck over the years. Besides, it obviously is not a good way to sleep with hunger pangs or to feel dirty from all that dried perspiration from a day’s work, is it?

Things to improve an elderly’s sleep:

Notwithstanding the popular belief that sanitation habits deteriorate with age, I still adhere to the habits etched upon me by my father. On top of those things, however, are add-ons to improve my sleep and others like me, age-wise. These are:

o Avoid or limit caffeine intake:

Caffeine is a white crystalline chemical compound found in coffee. It is a natural pesticide, paralyzing or killing insects and pests. In human, it is a central nervous system stimulant, warding off drowsiness and restoring alertness. It is common in coffee, tea, soft drinks and energy drinks.

o Avoid or limit alcohol intake:

I go out weekends and have a couple of beers just to hang loose. Having more than my limit is to invite disaster. For one, driving is risky. Another thing, sleeping is a problem and when I do, it is often interrupted by episodes of urination.

Generally, alcohol and sleeping don’t go together among the elderly. The capacity to dissipate alcohol in the blood is not as good among older people as with the young, even at the same dose. This will result to unsteadiness in walking at bedtime raising the risk of falls and injuries.

o Just eat enough to avoid hunger pangs; no spicy food please:

A team of Australian researchers published a study in the International Journal of Psychophysiology showing that spicy food, i.e., Tabasco sauce and mustard, showing that spicy food can and do result to poor sleep. Suspicion is centered on capsaicin, the active ingredient of chili pepper, which is an irritant for mammals, including humans.

A modest-sized dinner three hours before bedtime is just ideal.

o Minimize liquid intake:

Unless one is used to it, like I am, it is not nice to frequently get out of bed to urinate. So limit what you drink within the hour and a half before bedtime.

o Close your mental folder:
As bad as an empty stomach, a stressed mind can wreak havoc to one’s nocturnal rest. Stress and anxiety can deprive one of a good night’s rest. And there is no easy solution. Otherwise, there would be no need for psychoanalysts. This problem requires a tougher determination and constant practice – of emptying one’s mind of the stresses of the day – to work. But it is well worth it. The alternative is maddening insomnia.