30 Things You May Not Have Realized About Coffee
More than half of U.S. adults drink coffee every day — are you one of them?
Maybe you do it for the energy jolt. Maybe you love the taste. Maybe taking time for a sip is part of your morning ritual.
In honor of National Coffee Day (Sept. 29), Yahoo Health rounded up some of the most surprising facts about the beloved beverage.
U.S. adults drink an average of 3.1 cups of coffee a day.
Most people who drink coffee in the U.S. drink it with breakfast (65 percent), compared with 30 percent who drink it between meals and 5 percent who drink it with another meal besides breakfast.
The average American spends $20 on coffee a week (or an average of $1,092 a year).
The average cost of a cup of coffee is $1.38.
Coffee comes from a coffee tree, on which white blossoms and coffee berries (also known as coffee cherries) grow.
Long, long ago, tribes in east Africa consumed early versions of energy bars by mixing coffee berries with animal fat.
Arabica and robusta are the two main varieties of coffee. (Arabica makes up 70 percent of the world’s coffee.)
Coffee trees grow best in the “Bean Belt,” which is like a “band” around the globe closest to the equator.
Coffee breath is caused by the perfect storm of caffeine (which reduces saliva) and acidity (which promotes bacteria).
Coffee drinking seems to be linked with a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes.
Coffee beans contain antioxidants called quinines. (These become more potent after the beans are roasted!)
The caffeine in coffee can make your workout feel easier.
Magnesium is naturally found in coffee.
Coffee is linked with a lower risk of liver cancer.
While the amount of caffeine you’ll get in coffee depends on the bean and brewing method, there are about 85 milligrams of the stuff in an 8-ounce cup of joe.
Drinking four cups of coffee a day is linked with a lower risk of melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer.
The caffeine in coffee could make your naps more effective.
Caffeine in coffee could help you with your proofreading skills.
Three to five cups a day can be a healthy part of your diet, say government advisers.
While caffeine (which is found in coffee) can ease headaches, some research also shows that it can cause rebound headaches.
Daily consumption of the amount of caffeine found in one to two cups of coffee is linked with a lower risk of erectile dysfunction.
The caffeine in coffee could boost your memory (for up to 24 hours!).
Coffee could help prevent dental caries because it contains an antibacterial compound called trigonelline.
Coffee might help prevent the development of multiple sclerosis.
Drinking coffee is linked with a lower risk of breast cancer.
Caffeine (which is in coffee) can actually make you like working out more, thanks to a boost in happiness-promoting hormones dopamine and serotonin.
Drinking two or three cups a day of caffeinated coffee is linked with a lower risk of depression in women.
It seems to ward off Alzheimer’s (at least, in mice).
Three to five cups a day of coffee could lower your risk of having clogged arteries (which could lead to heart attack).
While we will all eventually kick the bucket at some point, drinking coffee could help delay death.
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