Important Health Facts About Coffee

Coffee has become a popular beverage preferred by both the young as well as the old in many countries all over the world. Coffee is such an intrinsic part of our way of life that not a day goes by without us paying homage to the local cafe, or at worst, the office coffee maker. But this infatuation (err, addiction) to coffee isn’t all that bad. Besides the occasional coffee stained teeth , the health benefits of coffee further validate coffee addicts’ love of the stuff. Aside from its highly stimulating effects, there are certain facts about coffee that most people may not know. Here are some of them.

Coffee Addiction

Contrary to what most people believe, coffee is actually not addictive. This belief may have stemmed from the many people making a habit of drinking coffee day in and day out. Having such a habit may sometimes give the idea that coffee drinking may be addictive. But actually, it is not. Studies have shown that caffeine in coffee has, in no way, the same addictive effects on the brain as those found in addictive drugs such as amphetamines or cocaine.

Coffee and Asthma

Coffee has been known to help manage respiratory conditions such as asthma. Actually, the practice of coffee drinking to aid people with asthma has already been followed and known of as early as a hundred years ago. The ability of coffee to handle asthma has recently been corroborated by a recent study where participants with asthma who drank an average of three cups daily have had the incidence of their asthma attacks fall by 28 percent.

Coffee and Headaches

It has been widely thought that coffee may have some pain killing effect. Some believe that coffee may also help banish headaches. Some studies suggest that this might be true. A study was conducted where people suffering from regular headaches were asked to take either a combination of a painkiller and drinking coffee or mainly just painkillers to treat their condition. The results showed that 80 percent of those who drank coffee along with taking painkillers showed a significant improvement within six hours as compared to just 67 percent of the group taking only painkillers for their headaches.

Researchers believe that the caffeine in coffee may have an effect on the treatment of headaches. Caffeine is known to help improve the absorption of substances in pain medications and enhance their pain killing effects. Caffeine is also known to constrict the blood vessels and so may counteract the effects of headaches caused by blood vessel dilation.

Coffee and Sleeplessness

Although popular belief tells us that coffee may cause sleeplessness in some people, there are studies indicating that this popular beverage does not inhibit sleep in any way. Although the caffeine in coffee is known as a stimulant and may boost alertness in people, it does not affect the dream phase of sleep in any way. As a stimulant, coffee may make it hard for some people to sleep, but it does not in any way cause people to lose sleep at night.