咖啡有益健康

咖啡使我们充满活力
咖啡因含量并非源于口感，而是与其酿造方法有着密不可分的关系。最近的研究结果表明，咖啡中含有大量的抗氧化剂、缓解疼痛的化合物以及抗菌化合物。当然，这并不表明你可以想喝多少就喝多少——要知道事极必反这个道理。但是，了解一下每天早上喝杯咖啡的诸多好处还是十分必要的。

集中精力
咖啡可以使你更善于思考。咖啡因，经常被形容为世界上应用最为广泛的情绪调解剂，刚好可以产生与腺苷这种镇静剂的效果相反的反应。研究表明咖啡可以使你精神更集中，特别是当你在进行枯燥乏味的工作时，这种作用更加明显。美国陆军首席咖啡因研究员，Harris Lieberman博士说道：“当睡眠不足时，咖啡因可以提高一系列认知测试的成绩，如：行动能力、记忆力、学习能力以及注意力。咖啡还可以改善你的情绪，使你感到更加精力充沛。”

减少困倦感
法国研究人员最近进行了一项测试，组织志愿者在向东穿越大西洋的飞行中进行药物测试。服用咖啡因的志愿者较之服用N—乙酰—5—甲氧基色安（或安慰剂）的小组所产生的困倦感要少很多。研究人员建议，每天从早饭时间一直到睡前4到6小时，每间隔2到3小时喝一杯咖啡，可以减少困倦感，使人更加机警。

增强运动能力
一项最新的研究表明咖啡因可以减轻肌肉练习所产生的疼痛感，使你能加大练习强度和时间。要达到减轻疼痛的最佳效果，你只需在运动前喝450克咖啡就可以了。量少一些，也会起一定的作用，但注意不要饮用过量。

坚固牙齿
喝咖啡可以减少你看牙医的次数。最近，意大利的研究人员发现咖啡中的抗菌成分可以减慢链球菌的生长速度，而链球菌正是牙齿腐败的罪魁祸首。咖啡中的化合物还可以减少细菌黏着在牙齿表面的几率。研究表明喝咖啡可以减少牙齿空洞的形成。

去除结石
咖啡可以使你的膀胱更健康，现在这并不是什么秘密了。护理健康学会声称，咖啡还可以减少患肾结石的几率。一般，妇女喝咖啡越多，患肾结石的几率就越低。咖啡因可以减少肾结石形成的几率。低因咖啡也有类似的效果。

远离帕金森
新的研究结果表明每天只喝一杯咖啡就可以减少患帕金森（一种伴随着身体震颤的脑部疾病）的几率。1/50的妇女都有可能患这种疾病。医学博士，美国哈佛大学营养及流行病学副教授Alberto Ascherio说：“咖啡因可以保护脑细胞免于受到帕金森疾病的侵袭。”

远离糖尿病
最近调查发现，如果妇女每天饮用3杯咖啡，即可降低患2型糖尿病的几率20到30个点。专家认为咖啡中的抗氧化剂是关键。哈佛大学营养学、流行病学副教授Frank Hu博士指出：咖啡可以帮助促进胰岛素到组织的传送。胰岛素阻抗——患糖尿病的主要原因——咖啡可以减少其发生的可能性。

防癌
日本研究人员指出，坚持每天喝咖啡十年的人比从不喝咖啡的人患肝癌的比率低50％。而且喝的越多，患肝癌的几率越低。研究人员尚未研究出是否是其中的咖啡因在起作用。

——作者Laurie Tarkan是纽约时报的撰稿人。她喜欢喝加奶的浓咖啡。

What "perks" does coffee offer?
Coffee's Perks
Turns out your favorite brew is much more than a tasty vehicle for a caffeine fix. Recent studies are finding that coffee is rich in antioxidants and contains hundreds of pain-relieving and antibacterial compounds. That doesn’t mean you can sip with impunity—you know what happens when you have too much. But it’s good to know that a cup or so might actually be doing more than getting you going in the morning. Here are some of the benefits.

Sharper focus
Regular coffee makes you a better thinker. Caffeine, often described as the world’s most widely consumed mood-altering drug, competes with a calming body background="../images_new/bg_hei.jpg" chemical called adenosine—and produces the opposite effect. Studies show coffee keeps you focused, particularly when you’re doing tedious work. In the sleep-deprived, says Harris Lieberman, PhD, a leading caffeine researcher with the U.S. Army, caffeine improves scores on a range of cognitive tasks, such as decision making, memory, learning, and attention. Coffee can also boost your mood, probably by making you feel more energetic, Lieberman says.

Less jet lag
French researchers recently found that a small group of volunteers who took caffeine pills for 4 days after an eastbound, cross-Atlantic flight felt less sleepy than people who took melatonin supplements (or a placebo). The researchers advise drinking 1 cup of coffee every 2 to 3 hours, beginning at breakfast and stopping 4 to 6 hours before going to bed. (But feeling more alert may have a price: The study’s caffeine takers didn’t find sleep all that satisfying.)

Better workouts
A new study shows caffeine can help reduce exercise-induced muscle pain, allowing you to push yourself harder and longer. For the most relief, you’ll need to down a 16-ounce cup of coffee before exercising. Smaller amounts may work, but less noticeably.

Tougher teeth
A tall latte may keep you out of the dentist’s chair. In lab tests, researchers in Italy recently found that coffee’s antibacterials slow the growth of Streptococcus mutans, the culprit in tooth decay. Coffee also contains compounds that keep bacteria from sticking to tooth enamel. Studies are under way to see if all this equals fewer cavities.

No more stones
It’s no secret that coffee makes your bladder more active. While that can be bothersome, it can also help reduce the risk of kidney stones, according to the Nurses Health Study. Women who drank the most coffee had the lowest risks. Caffeine increases the flow of more diluted urine, which lowers the chance of a kidney stone forming. Prefer decaf? No problem: It was shown to have similar effects.

Steady hands
New research shows that just 1 cup of coffee a day can halve your risk of Parkinson’s, a brain disease that causes tremors and affects movement. One in 50 women is likely to get the disease in her lifetime. Caffeine’s adenosine-blocking power may protect the brain cells typically lost to Parkinson’s, explains Alberto Ascherio, MD, associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. (Women on hormone therapy don’t seem to benefit, however. Estrogen may dilute the effectiveness of caffeine.)

Blood-sugar benefits
If a woman downs about 3 cups a day, she can reduce her risk of type 2 diabetes by 20 to 30 percent, recent research has found. Experts suspect that coffee’s antioxidants, such as chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid, deserve the credit. Coffee may help promote the delivery of insulin to the tissues. When that happens efficiently, explains Frank Hu, PhD, associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard University, insulin resistance—a major risk factor for diabetes—is less likely.

Cancer defense
Japanese researchers reported earlier this year that people who drank coffee every day over 10 years were half as likely to get liver cancer as those who didn’t drink it at all. And the more you drink, it seems, the lower your risk. It’s not clear whether caffeine is responsible. But that hardly matters, right?
Laurie Tarkan frequently contributes to The New York Times. She likes her coffee strong, with milk

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