As a college student, I have a very close relationship with my daily cup of coffee. It gets me through the day, and without it, I get a very bad headache. While many people would tell me that that means I am addicted, there are so many facts that tell us that drinking one cup of coffee a day is actually very healthy.
Drinking one to two cups of coffee daily can help prevent certain diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Now, I am not saying that drinking coffee will cure any of these diseases, but studies have shown that drinking one to two cups a day consistently can help prevent them. Scientists suspect that the antioxidant compounds in coffee can boosts your cells’ sensitivity to insulin, which helps regulate blood sugar and aids in preventing Type 2 diabetes. Coffee also has more antioxidants than almost any other drink or food!
As we all know, coffee is great to keep you awake for an all-nighter. Researchers have shown that when you’re sleep-deprived and stressed, even the smell of a cup of coffee can relax you. So when you have a big paper coming up, or midterms and finals, just making a cup of coffee can help ease your stress levels, while also keeping you alert and awake to study and get your work done. A study done by the National Institutes of Health found that people who drink coffee daily are 10 percent less likely to be depressed than those who have never had a cup before. The high that you get is not because of the caffeine — Coke can give you the same high. It is the antioxidants that make you so much happier.
Coffee is also great for your liver, especially if you consume alcohol. It helps to prevent certain liver diseases, such as an autoimmune disease that is caused by excessive drinking and can cause liver failure and cancer. I guess a cup after a night of drinking is a great fix for both your hangover and your future.
There are so many other reasons why it’s not bad to have a cup of coffee a day, but it is important to remember that it’s not the best to have very sugary and high-calorie lattes everyday. Stick with a regular, good old cup of java.