Feature Article
Brenda Kim
Did you know that with an annual consumption of over 400 billions cups, coffee is the World’s most popular beverage?
When I reach the third floor of the Johnson Center on George Mason campus and sit down to a table among my closest friends with a cup of coffee in hand, I'm usually asked at least once in an incredulous tone: What cup is that?
Sometimes people will shake their heads and smile as they say the words "Coffee addict" under their breath. I have no qualms with this nickname, though it is inaccurate. While I do enjoy the soothing effects of the aromatic black bean juice immensely I'm not addicted to it, and were I addicted it would not be to the coffee itself but to the wondrous, life-enriching, energy-infusing drug contained and naturally produced within the coffee, that is, caffeine. For the reason that caffeine can be mildly addictive and be the cause for some increased heart rate, increased blood pressure and irregular heartbeat, I mostly understand the concern that my friends have for me when they sarcastically attack my coffee dependence. So my response to the playful concerns of my friends and family is usually something like: "I know, I know, I'm trying to quit."
But whenever I sit down with a flowery mug full of my favorite form of percolated water, as I am now, I can't help but wonder if it's really the villain that my well-intentioned girlfriends chalk it up to be?
I understand the association it has with other, clearly unhealthy habits like smoking and drinking (heck, there's even a movie called Coffee and Cigarettes...or is it Cigarettes and Coffee? It was a good movie anyway, I recommend it), but does it really have an equal share in the malignant effects that its companions inflict? Or could it just be severely misunderstood?
Did you know that coffee was adopted as the national drink in America at the famous Boston Tea Party in 1773?
“Coffee is bad. Don’t drink it!” My mom said this as she took a sip from her own steaming mug. “I only drink it because I need to for work. But don’t you start drinking it!”
Her foreboding warnings were completely lost on me. I was already predisposed to loving coffee from an early age. I wasn’t allowed to drink coffee, but a different hot beverage was available for me to drink at church, a hot barley tea called Bo Ree Cha; my favorite elementary age experiment was to mix sugar and non-dairy creamer into the tea, lovingly dubbed “Monster Drink”. I upgraded to the real stuff at the turn of middle school, starting off with the sweeter drinks (lattes and frappucinos); and I felt completely justified in drinking coffee since I’d done book reports on historical figures and famous writers, finding that they would not have been nearly so great were it not for the secret meetings held in local coffee shops over a fresh cup of the signature beverage…I wondered why it was that my parents felt so strongly against my drinking coffee, but it wasn’t until later that I discovered that it was because they were afraid that the caffeine would stunt my growth.
Meanwhile I was completely sold on the romantic draw of coffee and its history, though it wasn’t until the end of high school that it became a daily necessity.
Did you know that espresso was invented by a Frenchman in 1822?
Being the wizened, experienced coffee-drinker that I am today, I can graciously admit that coffee (as with most everything) should be enjoyed in moderation. When I first began working for Starbucks in fall of 2006, I seemingly had no inkling as to what the word meant. I had unlimited access to all the espresso and steamed milk that my already wildly beating heart could desire, so every hour or so that I was on the job I made myself a small latte (or “tall”, if you want to get technical). At the end of my shift, I was sure to make a venti, triple shot latte or two to take home; and I never forgot to mark out the bag of coffee beans that I was entitled to have once a week, free of charge. On my off days I made good use of the bags I took home; grinding the whole beans at home and brewing myself a fresh cup was a must, and I became spoiled by the quality Arabica beans I had daily access to through Starbucks.
I only worked at the Starbucks for about 3 months, and due to schedule clashes with school I had to withdraw from the job. I was already beginning to notice the affects of my heavy coffee binging.
The flavored lattes contained a number of sugary syrups pumped into them to give them their distinctive tastes; some places, I discovered recently, pump servings with two different syrups into their lattes to make more complex flavor combinations. However the syrups, along with all the milk and whipped cream and caramel or chocolate toppings a person could ask for, add up to a hefty sum of calories and fat, which in turn adds up to greater chances of heart disease.
I had started to understand the deadly assassin that sugar is early on with Starbucks and so began building a preference for just a simple espresso and milk latte, or milk coffee.
About at that same time, I quickly began to discover that millions of fearful Americans were pointing their fingers at the wrong culprit. Coffee has been wrongfully accused of being the cause for so many different health problems however the real trouble may actually be what people add to the coffee themselves.
The brew itself has been tested in thousands of trials and found to actually decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes (an epidemic that exploded in America not too long ago), colon cancer, liver cirrhosis, and gallstones.
“Overall the research shows that coffee is far more healthful than harmful…For most people, very little bad comes from drinking [coffee], but a lot of good” –Dr. Tomas DePaulis
Anti-oxidants are molecules that counteract and/or prevent the effects of a naturally occurring bodily process called oxidation. Oxidation results in the release of free radicals which damage cells and this is a danger particularly for the brain and for development of cancer. Fruits and vegetables are often labeled as a great source of anti-oxidants, but I bet you didn’t know that just one cup of coffee can contain more anti-oxidants than an entire bowl of fruit!
There are even healthful effects that coffee has for certain bad habits.
Cigarette-smokers and alcohol-consumers be aware: coffee has been found to greatly reduce heart disease and liver damage when large amounts of coffee are consumed on a daily basis.
But let’s put aside all this evidence, and the fact that coffee has been found to reduce headaches, speed up the affects of certain headache pills so you can feel better faster, and help fight off Parkinson’s.
Coffee as a simple, rich, and aromatic beverage should be enough reason in and of itself to take up a cup whenever one fancies.
It’s a drink that’s faced much discrimination, but in light of all the new information available about its many benefits and (found to be) far fewer drawbacks, I think I’ll celebrate with a trip downstairs to pour a mug-full of milk and my favorite brew.
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