The Next Right Cup Of Coffee

Coffee causes cancer! Coffee causes heart disease! Coffee will stunt your growth! Coffee will bring you seven years of bad luck! Coffee will make you gain weight!

Wait...no, no it's the DECAF that is the evil one!

Oops...no, no...got that wrong. Sorry. Coffee can PREVENT liver damage! Coffee has great antioxidants! Coffee has been proven to reduce likelihood for Parkinson's Disease. People who drink moderate amounts of coffee have significantly less colon cancer! Coffee is good!

No, crud. Wait......

Coffee is one of those things that researchers can't just leave the heck alone. Over the span of my lifetime I have seen the good versus evil coffee pendulum swing a couple of times in both directions.

I could quote Mayo Clinic or WebMD but the bottom line is that coffee in moderation seems to offer many more health benefits than liabilities. From increased concentration to the antioxidants which help the immune system fight off bad stuff, coffee is now generally accepted as a positive addition to the daily intake. Like red wine, though, it's only good in moderation. Drinking four pots can have it's negative effects like restlessness, anxiety, irritability and sleeplessness, particularly in susceptible individuals.

Mind you, my irritability increases tenfold when I can't get my coffee. It's epic, but I don't recommended testing it out.  :-)

Some purists believe you should never have caffeine because it is somehow harming your workout, artificially giving you energy. I say, if you are getting off your butt and working out at 6:00 a.m. and a cup of coffee helps you get there...go for it!

My only really big caution is on what you put IN the coffee. I am working on eliminating half and half, cream, and anything high calorie from my coffee experience. I love the half and half, but I recently started actually counting the calories of my 50 cups a day (okay I exaggerate). It's ridiculous how many calories I am wasting in my beverage. I recently switched to trying to live with one teaspoon of an organic non-dairy creamer. It's okay I guess. It's not the same, but maybe I'll get used to it. I have committed to myself to try it for 3 weeks before going back to my evil ways.

The last word of advice is on k-cups  I am a huge fan and own probably every k-cup flavor ever invented.  But read the labels. Chai Latte and Cafe Vanilla Cafe Escapes are 60 calories each  My Sleepytime tea is 0 calories, but I put honey in it. You have to watch all the ways calories can sneak in and account for every last one or you'll be sabotaging your efforts.

I have a nice cup of Green Mountain Dark Magic sitting right here and, as my son will most assuredly attest, for my mornings, it's definitely the Next Right Choice.  Mmmmmmmm.

Carly