No! Not Black: Cream and Sugar, Please....

"Coffee today is like God in the Old Testament. It will either save you or kill you depending on how much you believe in its magic powers."
"After a certain point, all that ridiculous information can make you wonder, is science bullshit?"
John Oliver, Last Week Tonight

"Ah! How sweet coffee tastes! Lovelier than a thousand kisses, sweeter than muscatel wine!"
"I must have my coffee..."
Johann Sebastian Bach, 1732, aria, 'Kaffee Kantate'

Coffee, according to some scientists is packed with vitamins from Bs 1,2,3 and 5 to minerals such as magnesium. An antioxidant powerhouse. Anyone imbibing an average amount of coffee daily, say two to three cups (ha!), derives more antioxidants than they might from their daily consumption of fruits and vegetables. Which might, of course, speak to the fact that most people ignore the need to consume produce on a daily basis, but coffee lovers cannot overlook their daily cravings.

Coffee starts the day for almost everyone, and its most immediate effects are reliably, that energy surge, pinpoint focus, alert state, mellow mood and enhanced cognitive function. Deprived of that morning coffee life gets bogged down, we can't start the day, feel cranky and tired, and everything's a rotten bore. Nothing perks up mood, attention and ability to function quite so much as that requisite coffee.

Oh, there's much more, there's long-term benefits. How about a reduced risk of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's? Oh, and, just incidentally a lowered risk of various types of cancer. Coffee, according to the American Diabetes Association, can assist in lowering the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. A 2011 Harvard study even claimed a 20 percent lower risk of depression for coffee drinkers.

And if that's not enough, how about the World Health Organization's dietary recommendation for 2015 - 2020 associating health benefits linked to consuming three to five cups of coffee daily? Oh, you didn't need to be convinced? What on Earth did people do before 1600 and the introduction in the West to that wonderful brew?

Well, at about that time in history, coffee was considered a cure for alcoholism in Britain. Not everyone was convinced, however. There was a Women's Petition Against coffee promulgated in 1674 that read: "We find of late a very sensible Decay of that true Old English Vigour. Never did Men wear greater Breeches, or carry less in them."

So coffee's a boon to humankind, isn't it? Except ... except for a few niggling, perhaps unwarranted doubts. The consumer advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest based in Washington warns that any coffee consumption at all during pregnancy may result in low birth weights, in miscarriage and !gasp! childhood leukemia.

A significant positive association was linked in a 2010 meta-analysis of 5,347 lung cancer cases and 104,911 non-cases which concluded that high, very high coffee intake may lead to lung cancer. Researchers at Maastricht University, The Netherlands, linked coffee consumption to a 20 percent risk increase for urinary tract cancer, through a 2010 study.

Oh, and there's more; the claim that coffee makes people less intelligence. People who drink coffee black, some studies contend, are likelier to be psychopaths. Yes, there are the trifling irritations resulting from coffee use, when too much caffeine can lead to anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, digestive issues and high blood pressure. 

Coffee, above all, is a.d.d.i.c.t.i.v.e.....

Bottoms up!