David Byrne Tropical Horticulture Credible Internet Sources Homework
September 17, 2007
Key words: Coffee and health
Three selected internet sources of varying credibility
1. http://www.cosic.org/
CoSIC, the pan-European Coffee Science Information Centre, was established in the UK
in 1990 by ISIC, the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee.
2. http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/coffee_health_risk.htm
Coffee Health Risks: For the moderate drinker, coffee is safe says Harvard Women’s
Health Watch
3. http://www.ineedcoffee.com/03/coffeefitness/
Coffee and Fitness: Friends or Foes?
Ranking and explanation:
Ranking
1. www.health.harvard.edu
2. www.cosic.org
3. www.ineedcoffee.com
a. Normally the most credible sites would be those with an .edu domain name. Thus
the second site (www.health.harvard.edu) is the most credible.
b. The first site (www.cosic.org) is probably more credible than the third site
(www.ineedcoffee.com) as it professes to use scientists from Oxford.
c. In all cases, the information presented were summaries of information that was
presumably published in peer reviewed journals. Thus for my paper I would need
to find the primary source of information.
http://www.cosic.org/
CoSIC, the pan-European Coffee Science Information Centre, was
established in the UK in 1990 by ISIC, the Institute for Scientific
Information on Coffee.
During the last decade there has been an increase in consumer awareness of diet-related
health issues and as a result of this trend many popular foods and drinks have come under
scrutiny, including coffee. CoSIC was set up to work with independent scientists to
develop factual overviews of the large, and often conflicting, volume of data concerning
coffee and its effects on health.
Through the collection of experimental data and contact with researchers, CoSIC assesses
all the on-going and past medical research on coffee and caffeine being undertaken
around the world. It maintains and regularly updates a scientific database that now
comprises thousands of published research studies.
The aim of CoSIC is to provide accurate, balanced and consistent information to all
audiences across Europe who have an interest in coffee, caffeine and health. The primary
objective is to bring balance to the coffee and health debate.
This Web site covers only those medical conditions for which there are published
scientific data available. It does not comment on unsubstantiated links between coffee
and health for which there have been no properly conducted and published trials, nor
where it is a question of individual sensitivity to caffeine, which varies considerably.
CoSIC operates from Oxford, in the United Kingdom, where a team is responsible for all
scientific resource. The network itself consists of National Operators in twenty countries
throughout Europe who provide information on coffee and health within their own
country.
address
CoSIC
12 Market Street
Chipping Norton
Oxon OX7 5NQ
United Kingdom
Fax: +44 1608 645300
personnel
Roger Cook - Director
Dr Euan H M Paul - Scientific Advisor
E-mail: CoSIC@BTInternet.com
SUMMARY
Coffee is enjoyed as a drink by millions of people world-wide and has been for at least a
thousand years. It contains caffeine, which is a mild stimulant, and in many people coffee
drinking enhances alertness, concentration and mental and physical performance.
Although it contains a wide variety of substances, it is generally accepted that caffeine is
responsible for many of coffee’s physiological effects. Because caffeine influences the
central nervous system in a number of ways and because a small number of people may
be particularly sensitive to these effects, some people have attributed all sorts of health
problems to coffee. Caffeine is not recognised as a drug of abuse and there is no evidence
for caffeine dependence. Some particularly sensitive people may suffer mild symptoms of
withdrawal after sudden abstention from coffee drinking. A 150 ml cup of instant coffee
contains about 60mg caffeine and filter coffee contains about 85 mg. For those who like
coffee but are sensitive to caffeine, the decaffeinated beverage contains only 3 mg per
cup.
There is no sound evidence that modest consumption of coffee has any effects on the
outcomes of pregnancy or on the wellbeing of the infant. In the UK, the Food Standards
Agency issued guidelines for caffeine intake during pregnancy with an upper limit of
300mg/day. This figure is in line with that stated in 1999 by the EU Scientific Committee
on Food who said that 'While intakes up to 300mg/day appear to be safe, the question of
possible effects on pregnancy and the offspring at regular intakes above 300mg/day
remains open. Despite a small negative effect on calcium balance which can easily be
made up from other dietary sources there is no evidence that this is translated into any
effect on bone health. It has been known for over 100 years that coffee drinking can help
asthma sufferers by improving ventilatory function.
There is no evidence that coffee increases the risk of cancer of the female breast, ovary,
pancreas or kidney. It is now accepted that the small increased risk of bladder cancer
sometimes associated with coffee drinking is primarily caused by cigarette smoking.
There is also evidence that coffee protects against colon cancer and preliminary evidence
that it protects against male breast cancer.
There is no evidence that coffee increases the risk of heart disease. Moderate
consumption of coffee does not increase cardiac arrhythmias. In some sensitive
individuals, ingestion of coffee after a period of abstinence may cause a temporary rise in
blood pressure but there is no persistent hypertensive effect in the long term. Coffee
made by the Scandinavian method of boiling or by the cafetiere method may cause mild
elevation of plasma cholesterol concentration in some people but instant and filter coffee
have no such effects. Although coffee elevates plasma homocysteine levels this effect is
not large enough to have a significant effect on the risk of heart disease.
There is no evidence that coffee promotes indigestion in the majority of people. Although
coffee is known to increase heartburn this effect is not large enough to justify advising
people with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease to abstain from drinking coffee. There is
no evidence that coffee increases the risk of developing peptic ulcer disease. There is
some evidence that coffee may protect against gallstone disease.
Caffeine is a mild diuretic but scientific studies do not support the idea that caffeinated
beverages exaggerate dehydration and electrolyte loss caused by exercise. There is some
evidence that coffee may protect against the development of kidney stones.
Evidence is growing that coffee might protect against the development of Parkinson’s
disease and a few studies suggest that it might also protect against Alzheimer’s disease.
The relationship between coffee consumption and diabetes is an area of active
investigation but no clear picture has emerged so far. Available evidence suggests that
coffee might also protect against liver cirrhosis.
Coffee has a much higher total in-vitro antioxidant activity than other commonly
consumed beverages. This is due in part to intrinsic compounds of coffee such as
chlorogenic acid, in part to compounds formed during coffee bean roasting such as
melanoidins and in part to as yet unidentified compounds. It is widely believed that
antioxidants protect against the development of chronic diseases including heart disease
and cancer but whether the antioxidants characteristic of coffee have such effects remains
to be determined
http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/coffee_health_risk.htm
Coffee Health Risks: For the moderate
drinker, coffee is safe says Harvard
Women’s Health Watch
( Boston , MA ) Despite 20 years of reassuring research, many people still avoid
caffeinated coffee because they worry about its health effects. However, current
research reveals that in moderation—a few cups a day—coffee is a safe beverage that
may even offer some health benefits. The September issue of Harvard Women's
Health Watch weighs the pros and cons of this popular beverage and eases the
concerns of moderate coffee drinkers.
The latest research has not only confirmed that moderate coffee consumption doesn't
cause harm, it's also uncovered possible benefits. Studies show that the risk for type 2
diabetes is lower among regular coffee drinkers than among those who don't drink it.
Also, coffee may reduce the risk of developing gallstones, discourage the development
of colon cancer, improve cognitive function, reduce the risk of liver damage in people
at high risk for liver disease, and reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease. Coffee has also
been shown to improve endurance performance in long-duration physical activities.
For those who drink coffee to stay alert, new research suggests that you'll stay more
alert, particularly if you are fighting sleep deprivation, if you spread your coffee
consumption over the course of the day. For instance, if you usually drink 16 ounces in
the morning, try consuming a 2-3 ounce serving every hour or so. Again, moderation is
the key.
However, as the September issue notes, coffee is not completely innocent. Caffeine,
coffee's main ingredient is a mild addictive stimulant. And coffee does have modest
cardiovascular effects such as increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, and
occasional irregular heartbeat that should be considered. Studies have been largely
inconclusive regarding coffee and its effect on women's health issues such as breast
health, cancer, and osteoporosis. But, the negative effects of coffee tend to emerge in
excessive drinking so it is best to avoid heavy consumption.
Related Information
• Coffee and the Heart More
• Coffee: For most, it's safe More
• In Brief: Smell the coffee, feel the caffeine
More
< Back to Press Releases
The Harvard Women's Health Watch is available from Harvard Health
Publications, the publishing division of the Harvard Medical School. You can
subscribe to Harvard Women's Health Watch for $32 per year at
www.health.harvard.edu or by calling 1-877-649-9457 toll-free.
About Harvard Health Publications
Harvard Health Publications publishes five monthly newsletters—Harvard Health
Letter, Harvard Women's Health Watch, Harvard Men's Health Watch, Harvard
Mental Health Letter, and Harvard Heart Letter—as well as more than 50 special
health reports and books drawing on the expertise of the 8,000 faculty physicians at
Harvard Medical School and its world-famous affiliated hospitals. For more
information about Harvard Medical School publications, please visit our Web site,
www.health.harvard.edu.
Source: Harvard Health Publications
Contact: hhpmedia@hms.harvard.edu
Web site: http://www.health.harvard.edu
http://www.ineedcoffee.com/03/coffeefitness/
Coffee and Fitness: Friends or Foes?
by Matt Pitcher | Print Friendly Version | Email This Article
Matt Pitcher is a Certified Fitness Trainer (CFT)
Although I’m a firm believer that the only true and healthy path to sustained energy
levels is through the combination of adequate amounts of exercise and rest while eating a
balanced amount of real whole foods, sometimes our fast paced lifestyles don’t make that
very practical and require us to use ‘alternative’ means to temporarily boost our energy
levels. And, since the readers of this article are coffee lovers, I’m assuming that I won’t
be convincing anyone to retire their coffee mug to the pantry forever anytime soon. So,
allow me to explain how coffee can impact your health and fitness so that you can utilize
your love of coffee in the healthiest way possible.
Coffee and Health
Aside from tasting good (and smelling even better), coffee is believed to have a number
of health benefits. You may not need a man in a white coat to tell you that your daily
dose of caffeine counteracts fatigue and improves alertness and concentration, but did
you know that research suggests coffee can lessen the risk of heart disease, Parkinson's
disease and gallstones as well as act as a powerful antioxidant? So, is caffeine a health
booster that actually tastes good? Well, not necessarily. For every researcher or health
expert downing a double latte, there's another ordering green tea. What are we to think?
Physiology
Coffee gets its kick from caffeine, one of a group of naturally occurring plant-derived
compounds called methylxanthines. Caffeine is a drug, pure and simple. It's addictive -
too much can be toxic (although no one has ever died of a caffeine overdose) - and
withdrawal causes side effects such as headaches and dizziness. When ingested, caffeine
has a 'global' effect, meaning it influences all body tissues, including muscle.
'Drinking a cup of coffee stimulates the central nervous system and prompts the adrenal
glands to release adrenaline, one of two hormones released in response to stress. Your
heart beats faster, glucose is released into the blood stream and you feel energized,'
explains Anthony Haynes, a nutritionist at the Nutrition Clinic in London's Harley Street.
'In the short-term you feel revived, but over time this repeated stress response frazzles the
adrenal glands, while the liver becomes conditioned to metabolize caffeine more quickly,
meaning you'll need even more cups of coffee to get the same lift.'
The Dark Side
In fact, even if you drink only one cup early in the day, caffeine is still at work on your
system hours later. A recent study at the Duke University Medical Center, found that
levels of adrenalin and noradrenaline remained elevated at night even when subjects had
slurped their last cup of coffee at lunchtime - in effect, mimicking 24-hour stress. And
that's not the only charge Haynes levels at the world's second favorite drink, after tea.
'Coffee is an anti-nutrient,' he says. 'It hampers the absorption of essential minerals
including iron, magnesium, zinc and potassium, as well as the B vitamins.' So, for
example, drinking a cup of coffee while eating a hamburger can reduce the amount of
iron you absorb by 40 percent, while zinc absorption is reduced if coffee is drunk within
an hour after a meal.
Even more sinister links have been made between coffee and ill health. Various studies
have concluded that avid coffee drinkers are more at risk of miscarriage and birth defects,
osteoporosis, arthritis and heart disease. So, is our daily cup doing more harm than good?
The Jury is Still Out
'The findings thus far on coffee intake and health are inconsistent,' says Dr. Wendy Doyle
from the British Dietetic Association. 'In my mind, the evidence against coffee drinking
is poor, unless you're talking about an exceptionally high consumption. In moderation,
coffee doesn't appear to cause health problems.'
This was the same conclusion as the authors of the Nurses' Health Study, an epic 25-year
study of disease and women's health and lifestyle habits. They reported that 'drinking
coffee in moderation appears to have few, if any, adverse consequences.' The study also
failed to find evidence to support the link between coffee and increased risk of heart
disease and cancer, as well as any difference in the risk of heart disease among women
who drank six cups a day compared to those who totally abstained.
But experts like Anthony Haynes are highly skeptical about many of the recent positive
findings. And in spite of unfounded evidence on the negative effects of coffee, the
Nurses' Health Study did note that coffee's effect on calcium absorption could make
excessive caffeine intake a bad idea for post-menopausal women at risk of osteoporosis.
In fact, nutritionist and best-selling author, Carol Simontacchi, has stated that caffeine
‘bleaches’ the bones of calcium over time.
Dr Doyle agrees that the evidence relating to a high caffeine intake and miscarriage is
worrying. 'It's wise to keep caffeine from coffee and other sources - such as tea, energy
drinks and chocolate - to a minimum if you're pregnant,' she says.
So, despite being one of the most researched beverages around, no one has come up with
a definitive 'yes' or 'no' answer to the question of coffee and health. Dr. Doyle and
Anthony Haynes agree on one thing, however. Smoking, lack of exercise, and excess
alcohol are more serious issues than having a few cups of coffee. 'A daily cup isn't going
to do you much harm, but if you want optimum energy and health, you'll be better off
without it,' says Haynes. While Haynes might be adamant about the detrimental effects of
coffee, the rest of the jury is still out - most likely getting a nice, frothy cappuccino.
Coffee and Exercise
So, having said all this, can coffee improve your fitness? It does seem that the ingestion
of caffeine can enhance exercise and sports performance, and this area of research has
produced quite compelling results. In a landmark study by American doctor Dave Costill
in the 1970s, a group of cyclists were able to ride for 21 minutes longer post-caffeine
ingestion.
In fact, caffeine's efficacy as a performance-enhancing drug has led the International
Olympic Committee to consider urinary levels of caffeine exceeding 12 micrograms/ml
as worthy of a ban. You'd have to knock back eight cups of coffee to achieve such a
target, however. Assuming you're not competing at the top level, a strong cup of coffee
an hour before that fun run or charity bike ride might just help you through. Even if it
isn't physiologically easier, studies have shown that people perceive their effort to be less
intense after caffeine ingestion. In other words, you're trying as hard but you don't feel as
if you are. However, caffeine can also dehydrate you, so don't overdo it and be sure to
drink water regularly during your workouts.
So, these previous studies show that caffeine can boost your endurance, particularly
during exercise lasting between thirty minutes and two hours. Because of its high caffeine
content, many people drink coffee in the belief that it has the same effect. Unfortunately,
it doesn't according to a recent study.
A Canadian research team compared the effects of coffee and caffeine on run time to
exhaustion. A group of nine men took part in five trials. Sixty minutes before each run,
the men took one of the following.



Placebo (a "dummy" supplement).
Caffeine capsules.
De-caffeinated coffee.


De-caffeinated coffee with caffeine added.
Regular coffee.
Performance times were up to 10 minutes longer in subjects using the caffeine capsules.
There were no differences in run times among the other trials.
These results are somewhat surprising, especially when you consider that caffeine
absorption was similar during all three caffeine trials. The only explanation is that
something in the coffee interferes with the effects of caffeine.
This isn't surprising, especially when you consider there are hundreds of compounds
dissolved when coffee beans are roasted, ground and extracted in hot water. In fact, when
one of these compounds was injected into rats, it actually slowed heart rate and lowered
blood pressure.
The bottom line, then, is that if you plan to use caffeine to boost your exercise routines
(particularly your endurance times), pure caffeine (such as in the form of capsules) might
prove to be more beneficial than coffee.
Conclusion
Clearly, coffee has some health benefits, but also has very real risks and it’s role in the
improvement of fitness levels is questionable. So, in light of these facts, I highly
recommend being balanced to your approach to coffee ingestion as it relates to your
health and fitness. One great way to achieve that balance is to follow the guidelines of the
coffee diet and to enjoy your coffee in moderation while following a proper exercise
routine. And, if you aren’t sure how to best do that, consult with a clinically certified
nutritionist and/or fitness expert. After all, the longer we live, the longer we can enjoy
coffee!
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