Coffee may taste like heaven in a Starbucks drink and get you through the hellish week of finals, but what good is it to your health?
Makes you Smarter?
The active ingredient of coffee, caffeine, is a stimulant that blocks the effects of an inhibitory neurotransmitter called Adenosine. Caffeine increases neuronal firing in the brain, improving reaction time and general cognitive functions. Caffeine also signals the release of dopamine and norepinephrine which improve mood and memory. This stimulant in coffee may be your new best friend in finals week.
Fat Burn and Fitness
Aside from affecting the brain, caffeine also affects the central nervous system. Caffeine increases metabolism and oxidation of fatty acids. This speeds up fat burn and improves athletic performance. Speaking from personal experience, drinking some coffee before a workout boosts my energy motivation to exercise, giving me a more satisfying workout.
Coffee may lower Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
More and more research is suggesting that there may be various health benefits associated with Coffee, and helping prevent Type 2 Diabetes is one of them. Though many of these studies are correlation based, the association between coffee and reduced risk is strong. People who drank more coffee had lower risk of diabetes by 7%. In a Harvard study, researchers found that participants who increased coffee intake over a 4-year time period had a 11% lower risk than people who did not increase intake. Drinking coffee is associated with drastic reduction of risk and starting today may be a good idea.