Drink For Thought - Is Coffee Good For Health?

The blogger received an email from a former colleague Mr Chai Bui Lun on the subject of “Kopi-O Kosong – good for you” and forwarded to friends and e-buddies. He also sought comments from the ‘nation’s top nutritionist’ (just found out this title recently from another source) Dr JB Lim. As usual, although ‘the Great Sifu’ Dr Lim humbly said he didn’t know the answer, he wrote a 1,002-word reply as reproduced hereinafter the 493-word original article, slightly more than double the length. That’s the style of our knowledgeable and prolific Great Sifu!

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This is DRINK for thought!

Kopi-O KOSONG- good for you! Without milk or creamer and less/no sugar.

By Sylvia Booth Hubbard, Newsmax

For many years, coffee was considered a vice, linked with sleepless nights and cigarettes.

But scientists have discovered that coffee contains potent antioxidants that can fight numerous ailments, including heart disease and diabetes. According to the American Coffee Association, 54% of Americans drink coffee on a daily basis, and they drink, on average, over three cups each.

The diseases coffee can benefit include:

Dementia

Drinking moderate amounts of coffee during middle age - classified as three to five cups daily - can decrease the risk of dementia by 65%, according to a 2009 study by Swedish and Finnish researchers.

Liver disease

In those who drink too much alcohol, those who drank the most coffee - more than four cups every day - reduced their risk of developing alcoholic cirrhosis by 80%.

Heart disease

Research associated with The Nurses' Health Study found that women who drank two to three cups of coffee daily had a 25% lower risk of dying from heart disease. Along the same line, a Spanish study found that men who drank more than five cups of coffee each day lowered their risk of dying from heart disease by 44%, and that women who drank four to five cups each day reduced their risk by 34%.

Prostate cancer

A recent study from Harvard Medical School found that men who drank the most coffee slashed their risk of developing the fastest growing and most difficult to treat prostate cancers by more than half when compared to men who drank no coffee.

Gout

Drinking four or more cups of coffee each day dramatically reduces the incidence of gout, say U.S. and Canadian researchers. Men who drank four to five cups daily lowered their risk by 40 percent, and those who drank six or more cups daily reduced their risk of developing gout by 59% when compared to men who didn't drink coffee.

Breast cancer

Coffee can either reduce the risk of developing breast cancer or delay its onset, according to Swedish studies. They found that coffee alters a woman's metabolism and produces a safer balance of estrogens. Women who drank two to three cups of coffee a day reduced their cancer risk by as much as two-thirds, depending on the specific type of breast cancer.

Diabetes-D

Enjoying six or more cups of coffee daily can cut chances of Type 2 diabetes by 54% in men and 30% in women over those who don't drink coffee.

Parkinson's disease

Several studies show that drinking coffee lowers a man's risk of developing Parkinson's up to 80 percent - and the more the better.

Colon cancer

A Japanese report found that women who drank three or more cups of coffee every day slashed their risk of developing colon cancer in half.

What's responsible for coffee's healthy benefits? Most researchers believe it's the antioxidants (polyphenols or flavonoids) in coffee, but there are hundreds of compounds in coffee that may be partially responsible.

Kopi-O kosong ~ bottoms up! Cheers...

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Reply from Dr JB Lim:

17 Aug 2013 at 23:45

Dear Great Sifu (I forgot your real title),

Thank you for your article and the question.

My answer is, I really don’t know. There have been so many conflicting studies and reports about coffee that it is really very confusing even to nutritional scientists.

Previous studies claim that coffee can cause pancreatic cancer N Engl J Med. 1981 Mar 12;304 (11):630-3.

Yet other studies did not confirm such association. Recent studies have found no association between coffee drinking and an increased risk of cancer, heart disease or other diseases. Others scientists think otherwise.

As far as I have read in earlier published studies, researchers did not take into account other high-risk behaviors, such as smoking and physical inactivity which are common causative factors among heavy coffee drinkers.

In any study, all confronting factors that affect the result of the study such as age, gender, race, dietary exposures, social habits like smoking and drinking, genetics and family history, medication, physical activities, psychological and stress levels, etc…etc…down the line need to be paired off and controlled. That would be the gold standard in medical research.

Else a meta-analysis of hundreds of other studies including epidemiological patterns, cross-sectional and longitudinal cohort studies over hundreds of generations may be demonstrated.

But I think coffee is a double-edged sword. It does have beneficial effects on those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as coffee contain two potent natural drugs that keep the airways patent (opened). Pharmacologically they act as bronchodilators.

However, as far as I know, heavy consumption of coffee has shown a slight increase in blood cholesterol levels. This I postulate could be due to the margarine, a saturated oil containing trans-fatty acids added to the coffee beans during roasting. It is only my hypothesis – suitable to any candidate who wishes to pursue a PhD degree.

Another study found that consumption of two or more cups of coffee a day can increase the risk of heart disease in people with a specific genetic mutation that slows the breakdown of caffeine in the body.

In short, how quickly coffee is metabolized in the body may determine the risk of heart disease or pancreatic cancer among coffee drinkers. Again, I am not too sure.

A paper published just exactly a year ago on August 1, 2012, showed that coffee may control movements in patients with Parkinson's disease. The study was published in the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The author Dr Ronald Postuma of McGill University who published his findings, suggested that those who use caffeine or drink coffee less, were likely to develop Parkinson’s disease? Ha! Ha! What a conclusion to my mind.

If that is so, then uncontrollable movements in Parkinson’s disease can be treated by giving patients pure caffeine tablets. But as physicians, we know that giving caffeine to patients with Parkinson’s disease instead of the standard dopamine (Pramipexole or levodopa or other forms of dopaminergic therapy), may not improve the neurological characteristics of Parkinsonism.

So again, is coffee helpful or not helpful – the answer I am unsure?

Other previous and more recent studies claimed that coffee is preventive against Type 2 diabetes (maturity onset diabetes mainly in adults), and is even liver cancer protective which researchers claimed was due to the high content of antioxidants in coffee.

These are the polyphenols such as flavan-3-ols (monomers and procyanidins), hydroxycinnamic acids, flavonols and anthocyanidins present in the coffee.

These compounds are said to potentially reduce oxidative cell damage. One particular substance with alleged anticarcinogenic effect is methylpyridinium not commonly found in other foods. It is claimed that methylpyridinium is not present in raw coffee beans but is formed during the roasting process from trigonelline, claimed to be present in unroasted coffee beans. It is also claimed to be present in both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee, and even in instant coffee. This was what was claimed by companies with a vested interested in coffee manufacturing.

But to my best of my trained and professionally qualified knowledge in food science (definitely NOT a bogus one) most of the naturally occurring antioxidants in coffee, and in most foods for that matter are almost completely destroyed at temperatures exceeding 250 deg C even when heated for 25 minutes, let alone coffee beans being roasted at over 500 deg C for hours until they turn black.

Not just that. More than 1,000 chemicals have been reported in black roasted coffee, of which 19 are known to be carcinogens (cancer-causing agents) in rodents. However, most of these rodent and rats carcinogens occur naturally in other foods also, and this does not mean they can cause cancer in humans by drinking coffee or consuming other foods containing these rodents (rats, for example) carcinogen.

However, a recent meta-analysis based on 37 case-control and 17 cohort studies (10,594 cases) did not provide quantitative evidence that coffee consumption was related to pancreatic cancer risk, even at high intakes.

No significant association between coffee consumption and the risk of gastric and/or pancreatic cancers was also found in a more recent prospective study (Bidel S, Hu G, Jousilahti P, Pukkala E, Hakulinen T, Tuomilehto J (2012). "Coffee consumption and risk of gastric and pancreatic cancer-A prospective cohort study". International journal of cancer).

I could go on, and on this subject about coffee and health for the next 3-4 days, but in honesty I would be wasting my effort and time, because from the very beginning of my answer to your question – I already said I really do not know. It is very confusing even to us as nutritional scientists and researchers.

Just in a one sentence summary, it is far safer and much more cardio-protective and cancer preventive to drink tea (green or black) without the sugar and milk added.

Why is this so, is going to take me another 3-4 days to explain, and I am not going to do that because the Female Speaker of my House has repeated called on her natural louder speaker to go for my dinner - else I would be in 'coffee trouble' over my dinner.

Jb lim (A Grand BOGUS Sifu)

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Further email exchanges related to the above subject:

From: choo chuan leong

Sent: Saturday, 17 August 2013 11:44 PM

My neighbour, a 92 year old lady next door was asked by me what was the secret of her longevity being able to walk, cook, wash and a fairly good eyesight besides a slightly weak knee. She even walks to the market. Her reply is daily consumption of black coffee. Amazing but true. Sample is still alive for viewing.

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The blogger's reply to Dr JB Lim:

On Sun, Aug 18, 2013 at 12:37 PM, Tai Onn Lau wrote:

Dear Great Sifu Dr JB Lim,

I can't express how grateful I am in receiving your response. The original article has only about a total number of 493 words, and my question for your comment has only 4 words, and yet you have taken the trouble to write 1,002 words in reply.

How can I or for that matter any other recipients of this email not appreciate your kind and helpful effort even to the extent of risking the warning to go for dinner from the Female Speaker of your house?

As usual, please allow me to post your great reply into my blog http://taionn.blogspot.com/2013/08/drink-for-thought-is-coffee-good-for.html to share with all readers of this blog.

Frankly speaking, after reading your lengthy explanation, I am still confused whether coffee-drinking is good or no good for health. A clear proof of my stupidity. Hehehe......

With warmest regards,

Lau

P/s. I thought you have earlier agreed NOT to address me as 'Sifu'. How can you be so forgetful unless you have a slight dementia problem (just joking, no offence meant)?

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From: lim juboo

Sent: Sunday, 18 August 2013 7:15 PM

Dear Grand Fusi,

Thank you for jolting my memory back and my dementia backwards on how to address you. Likewise allow me to joggle your title Sifu backwards in pairs of lettering into Fusi.

Wow! What a beautiful feminine sounding title you have either way. But I shall keep this gorgeous, honorific title of yours in reverse to your credit.

If you are confused whether or not coffee is good for health, then drink more of it to confuse yourself and your short and long term memory even more. Thanks for not giving me coffee for that!

Numerous studies of this psychoactive stimulant drug called caffeine in coffee all gave conflicting results about its effect on memory. This is to confuse researchers, nutritionists and nutritional scientists to lose their memory and knowledge control. They are pharmacologically all confused.

This is exactly the same as with all the other studies about the health benefits of coffee contradicting its adverse effects on health from other studies I mentioned earlier. It is so bewildering even to us, let alone the people in the streets who just want to enjoy a cup of coffee.

It is estimated that about US $ 100 billion are being spent yearly globally in research on nutrition which makes it one of the most research-intensive areas of medicine, health and medical science.

Yet our knowledge on nutrition in disease prevention particularly on cancer, heart disease and chronic illnesses is not well understood, if not bewildering, and often the studies are at odds with each other.

The volume of research publications on nutrition is horrendously bewildering. Published papers on the advances in nutrition come in yearly in an inundation. We can hardly keep up even flipping over the papers, let alone read them.

Nevertheless, nutrition is a very exciting and mystifying field of medical and health science, despite conflicting views of meaningful world experts who conduct such expensive studies.

And yet, nobody since my student days till today even know exactly how much - even a simple nutrient - like any of the just a handful of vitamins or minerals a person needs daily, let alone know, the tens of hundreds, if not in their thousands, the various phytochemicals and nutriceuticals, their mixtures, their complexities, and their medicinal properties found in plant-based foods.

Yet it is the very food, and not the medicine prescribed to you by your doctor that nourishes you and me that keeps us alive and in good health to allow us to argue over its life giving properties forever and ever.

Indeed food and nutrition is God’s gift to all mankind and His creatures that creep since the genesis of life on this planet.

Didn’t Hippocrates of Cos, the Father of Medicine circa 400 B.C. about 2,400 years ago already told us:  “Let food be your medicine, and medicine your food”?

Truly, Hippocrates was the Father of Medicine who had that special vision and that extraordinary foresight.

JB

(A BOGUS Sifu on Nutrition who knows almost next-to-nothing on the subject)

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The blogger wrote to Dr JB Lim again:

From: Tai Onn Lau

To: lim juboo

Sent: Sunday, 18 August 2013 10:47 PM

Dear Great Sifu Dr Lim,

Thanks but no thanks to the new title of ‘Fusi” you just coined and addressed me. As I have mentioned before, no title is necessary for me and a simple ‘Lau’ or “TO’ (remember you always called me ‘OT’ initially?) will do.

Anyway, the name ‘Fusi’ somehow jolted my memory of another name of ‘Tootsie’.

I wonder if you guys remember this 1982 American comedy-drama film ‘Tootsie’ starring Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange and others? It tells the story of a talented but volatile actor (Dustin Hoffman) whose reputation for being difficult forces him to adopt a new identity as a woman (named ‘Tootsie’) to land a job.

(See the movie trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlXE1Yq0AnQ )

And the movie theme song "It Might Be You" performed by singer/songwriter Stephen Bishop, nominated for an Academy Award (Best Original Song) in 1983, remains to be one of my favorite sweet and romantic songs till today.

(See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrofYIAml5s )

Anyway, just to share with you a feedback from my wife’s cousin brother Albert Choo who wrote to me after receiving my forwarded article as follows:

“My neighbour, a 92 year old lady next door, was asked by me what was the secret of her longevity being able to walk, cook, wash and a fairly good eyesight besides a slightly weak knee. She even walks to the market. Her reply is daily consumption of black coffee. Amazing but true. Sample is still alive for viewing.”

Well, I believe the drinking of black coffee is ‘A SECRET’ of the 92-year-old lady’s longevity, but not necessarily ‘THE ONLY SECRET’. She must have other factors of healthy life styles that keep her living such a long and healthy life.

I also wonder if drinking ‘Kopi-O Kosong’ i.e. coffee without milk or creamer and less/no sugar is better than coffee with milk/creamer/sugar?

But please don’t bother to write any more. You have written so much on this subject and only people like me who has a low intelligence is still confused. LOL!

Thank you once again.

Lau 

(No ‘Sifu’, and also definitely not a feminine ‘Fusi)