Coffee
Lots of you probably couldn’t make it through a morning without coffee. And some of you might not want to.
As good as it may smell, coffee has been a guilty pleasure for many of us. For years, studies have warned of increased risks of cancer and heart disease … not to mention the daily jitters and increased anxiety associated with too much caffeine.
But a growing body of evidence suggests that in some ways, coffee might be good for us. Researchers at Harvard University have reported that drinking coffee may lower the risk of liver cancer, diabetes and premature death and that it may lower the risk of Parkinson’s disease in men. And this week, a new study from Australia echoed the findings about lowering the risk of type-2 diabetes. So we headed out to the Coffee Tree Roastery in Toronto to find out what people there thought about coffee and their health.
Terry Graham believes in the health benefits of coffee too. He’s the Chair of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Guelph and his research focusses on coffee.
Coffee – Harms
But not everyone is convinced by the new research on coffee. Jim Lane is a research professor of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Medicine at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
Coffee – Perks
Well there is more to our relationship with coffee than science. Michaele Weissman is the author of God in a Cup: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Coffee. She’s in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
Last Word – Coffee
We ended the program today with one more thought on coffee and what it used to be like in days gone by courtesy of comedian Denis Leary.
Click here to listen to the CBC episode on Coffee & Health.