Preventive Benefit of Coffee and Tea

Helpful information but I suggest limiting your cups and using only organic.  And just another chance to caution on the green tea risk of pancreatic cancer: take heed.

The Archives of Internal Medicine, published by the American Medical Association (AMA), has recently released a comprehensive report on the benefits of coffee and tea for prevention of type 2 diabetes.¹ The report is a review of published studies and a pooled analysis of all the data (called a “meta-analysis”).
Drinking coffee, decaf coffee, green tea or black tea was associated with a reduction in the risk of developing diabetes. For coffee, the reduction was dose-dependent, which is to say that the more coffee or tea drunk, the greater the reduction in risk, about 7% per cup up to six cups a day.
The authors state that the effects may be due to the presence of phenolic compounds in coffee or tea that increase sensitivity to the effects of insulin, the hormone responsible for keeping blood sugar levels low.
The research described in this review is all observational: it follows the dietary habits of people and observes what diseases they develop. Observational research is sometimes inconclusive. To demonstrate the reality of the effect, a controlled interventional study would need to be done in which people were given pills of coffee or tea or a placebo and then followed for several years.
1. Huxkey R et al, Coffee, Decaffeinated Coffee, and tea Consumption in Relation to Incident Type 2 Diabetes mellitus. Arch Int med 169: 2053-2063 (2009). 

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Roasting, why coffee is fountain of youth

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Canadian researchers say roasting is the reason coffee provides antioxidant benefits that help people fight aging. Lead author Yazheng Liu and co-author David Kitts, both of the University of British Columbia, say antioxidants present in dark roasted coffee brew extracts result from the green beans being browned under high temperatures.
The researchers analyzed the chemical compounds produced during the bean's browning process -- the "Maillard reaction." In the 1900s, French chemist Louis-Camille Maillard studied the way heat affects the carbohydrates, sugars and proteins in food when grilling steaks or toasting bread.
"Previous studies suggested that antioxidants in coffee could be traced to caffeine or the chlorogenic acid found in green coffee beans, but our results clearly show that the Maillard reaction is the main source of antioxidants," Liu says in a statement.
However, Kitts, a food science professor and director of the food, nutrition and health program, says coffee beans lose 90 percent of their chlorogenic acid during the roasting process.
Antioxidants help in removing free radicals -- the end products of metabolism which have been linked to the aging.
The findings appear in a forthcoming issue of Food Research International.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/02/04/Roasting-why-coffee-is-fountain-of-youth/UPI-15391296802480/#ixzz1D6IAMVE6

Natural Health News 6.2008 Wake up and enjoy an aroma of health


Roasting Coffee Beans Dark Brown Produces Better Antioxidants

Coffee beans that are darkly roasted a deep brown provide a more powerful antioxidant benefit, a new study has found.Food science researchers at the University of British Columbia in Canada say the most antioxidants in coffee are produced when the green-colored beans are browned at high temperatures. Lead author Yazheng Liu and colleague Professor David Kitts looked at what is called the "Maillard reaction" -- the chemical reaction triggered by cooking foods, in this case during the roasting of coffee beans. They found that the compounds produced during the roasting process are where coffee's antioxidants come from. Prior research has suggested they originate in either the caffeine or other ingredients. "Previous studies suggested that antioxidants in coffee could be traced to caffeine or the chlorogenic acid found in green coffee beans," Liu said in a statement. "Our results clearly show that the Maillard reaction is the main source of antioxidants." Antioxidants have been showed to bolster the immune system and slow the aging process, among other benefits. They help to eliminate free radicals, which are the damaging end products produced during metabolism. The findings, to be published in Food Research International, showed that "coffee beans lose 90 percent of their chlorogenic acid during the roasting process," Kitts said in a statement. The Maillard reaction was named for the French chemist Louis-Camille Maillard, who in the 1900s studied the effects of heat on proteins, sugars and carbohydrates in food, as in when steak is barbecued or bread is toasted. Prior research has had mixed results. Some studies have found that antioxidant levels are higher in dark-brown coffee beans, while some have found they're lower and others have concluded that the best antioxidants come from medium-roast coffee.

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