The prevalence of coffee shops attests to Americans' love of roasted coffee beans. Unless processed to remove caffeine, a cup of coffee contains about 100 mg. of caffeine, according to the University of Illinois McKinley Health Center. Once viewed as harmful, recent studies on caffeine in coffee reveal benefits to regularly consuming moderate amounts of coffee and caffeine.
Alertness
Truck drivers and college students cramming for exams rely on coffee to help them make it through a night of driving or studying. According to researchers at Leiden University, the caffeine in coffee blocks the receptors in the brain that help you fall asleep.
Athletic Performance
Endurance athletes, such as long-distance racers and marathon runners, could benefit from consuming coffee or other caffeinated beverages three to four hours before competing, according to Dr. Mark Jenkins of Rice University. Caffeine slows the utilization of glycogen, the primary fuel used by muscles, making glycogen available for a longer time, which can be beneficial during long races and other long-term events.
Diabetes
When researchers studied more than 20,000 Finnish men and women over 13 years and compared coffee consumption and incidents of type 2 diabetes, they found regular coffee drinkers had a statistically significant decrease in type 2 diabetes. The study, reported in the December 2006 issue of the International Journal of Obesity, found that drinking seven or more cups of coffee a day reduced diabetes risk by up to half, and even those who drank more moderate amounts of coffee were less likely to have diabetes than non-coffee drinkers.
Parkinson's
Leiden University researchers report coffee drinkers are less likely to suffer from Parkinson's disease. Coffee drinkers who consumed about 100 mg of caffeine daily were less likely to develop Parkinson's. When researchers tried to introduce Parkinson's into animals given caffeine, the animals did not develop the disease. Researchers found that caffeine targets the adenosine A2A receptor, a protein found in the cell walls of people with Parkinson's disease. These researchers theorize that the caffeine in coffee interferes with the action of these receptors, though ongoing research will determine the exact way in which this happens.
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