Why is Freshly Roasted Coffee Good for your Health? Researchers say potent antioxidants, which are believed to help prevent cancer, might be found in freshly brewed coffee - but only when it is consumed within 20 minutes of being made. Dr. Takayuki Shibamoto, professor of Environmental Toxicology at the University of California, Davis, has shown that coffee fresh-roasted and consumed within twenty minutes has antioxidants equivalent to those in three oranges. Shibamoto said he found that the beguiling smell of freshly brewed coffee is derived from at least 300 different chemicals. Many belong to a large family of molecules called volatile heterocyclic compounds. Individually, he said, those chemicals are not potent. But when combined, as in brewed coffee, the activity increases and is comparable to antioxidants found in many fruits and vegetables, which are believed to block the undesirable effects of oxygen radicals on living tissue. But smell alone isn't enough. Shibamoto said that while the possible healthy chemicals are detectable in coffee's aroma, they escape rapidly into the air. (Los Angeles Times, April 15, 1997.)

What do Freshly Roasted Coffee and Caffeine have to do with Fat Loss and Not Muscle Loss?

Coffee is good for athletes and other people, according to Kenneth Davids, co-author of Espresso: Ultimate Coffee, quoted in the June 2000 Men's Fitness magazine. Davids cites studies demonstrating that coffee drinkers were less likely to develop hypertension, diabetes, or gallstones. "And coffee has been used for years by runners and endurance athletes to aid in metabolizing fatty acids," because the caffeine in coffee increases the circulation of fatty acids and enhances the oxidation of fat. During prolonged exertion, caffeine can spare both liver and muscle glycogen by facilitating the use of fatty acids for energy, the New England Journal of Medicine recently reported.

What do Coffee and Caffeine have to do with Parkinson Disease?

The following is a summary of an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), May 24/31, 2000, on "The Association of Coffee and Caffeine Intake with the Risk of Parkinson Disease."

The Honolulu Heart Program was established in 1965 with the examination of 8,004 men of Japanese ancestry, 45 to 68 years old and living on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. The initial examination consisted of face-to-face interviews and physical evaluation. The study is now in its 34th year of follow-up with continued surveillance of hospitalization and death records.

The study findings indicate that higher coffee and caffeine intake is associated with a significantly lower incidence of Parkinson Disease. This effect appears to be independent of smoking. The data suggest that the mechanism is related to caffeine intake and not to other nutrients contained in coffee.

Parkinson disease (PD) afflicts 3% of the population older than 65 years and is a significant source of morbidity and use of health services. Based on the projected growth and aging of the U.S. population, this percentage could double in the next 30 to 40 years. While rare genetic forms exist, determinants of typical late-onset Parkinson disease appear to be largely environmental. No treatment has definitively been shown to prevent the disease or slow its progression. Identification of risk factors may lead to an understanding of pathogenic mechanisms and to effective strategies for prevention.

Why is Distilled Water Good for your Health?

Distilled water is water which has been turned into vapor, so that virtually all its impurities are left behind.