To Drink or Not to Drink

With the amount of conflicting information being put out there by doctors, scientists and researchers, it's no wonder that many of us out there are bordering on insanity when it comes to figuring out what's good for us and what isn't. The latest? Well it's a subject that's fairly near and dear to my heart and something that many people have accused of being my fallback subject when I have nothing else to blog on but there's just something about coffee that interests me and that keeps intriguing scientists as well. The latest study indicates that consumption of coffee may be beneficial in warding off the effects of Alzheimer's Disease.

Tests done on lab rats (does anyone else find it funny that tests of potential effects to humans are most often conducted on rats?) showed that memory was positively affected with the introduction of the rat equivalent of 500 miligrams of caffeine. What this meant was that inflammation of the brain which typefies Alzheimers was staved off and memory improved. Now of course the proof of this was that the rats probably kept hitting the button for more food rather than the button that would shock them with a 'mild' electric charge but the principle still applies nonetheless. Regardless, I think it's probably both a good and a bad thing that this result came out.

It's good because for many of us coffee devotees it's one more thing for us to point to and say "Ha! Coffee is good for you." while I think it's bad for what it's potentially going to lead to. Most people who frequent Starbucks or a similar coffee chain will probably be able to tell you that amount of coffee you usually get at such places is well in excess of what you'd get in a normal coffee mug. That being said, we are probably consuming the equivalent (if not more) of the required dosage of caffeine to see these effects. What people often don't think about though is the fact that in doing so, they are also probably increasing the amount of fat they consume.

What do I mean? Well most drinks at Starbucks can be high in terms of fat content and caloric content if you go with the 'default' ingredients. This can include whole milk, whip cream, various syrups and accoutrements which serve to make the coffee tasty but also serve to bump up the amount of bad things in the coffee. I'm not saying that people shouldn't indulge in such drinks but I can already hear people who have gained tremendous weight arguing that they were drinking coffee because doctor's said it could help stave off Alzheimers. Then these same obese coffee drinkers would in turn sue Starbucks for millions in health endangerment simply because they didn't label their drinks or coffees with the calories it contained or how much fat it has. Not that most people look at these labels anyways but that's another matter.

So then what's the solution? Simple. Everything in moderation. Most anything out there is good for you in small controlled quantities but it's when we start abusing these quantities that we start seeing negative effects. A few years ago I remember that scientists came out and said that popcorn was good for you. People then started consuming record quantities of popcorn at the movies or elsewhere. What the doctor's then had to do was caveat what they said. They meant plain popcorn that wasn't doused in butter or nacho cheese or loaded with salt. It wasn't too long after that that the same doctors released a study that said excessive consumption of 'bad' popcorn could lead to negative health effects. Again it came down to abuse of a good thing. I suppose in a few more weeks or months we'll hear of another study that shows that while coffee helps stave off some effects of Alzheimers it helps promote ulcers. Won't that be wonderful?