Healthy Coffee?

Coffee Herbs 

     Coffee mixes well with herbs to moderate its effects or to create synergistic blends. Coffee lowers levels of type 2 diabetes due to flavanoids, magnesium and increasing the metabolic rate. Alcoholics at risk for cirrhosis of the liver have lower rates. Asthmatics have fewer attacks and can head them off with coffee or a coffee foot bath. Alzheimer’s can be slightly reversed and progression reduced. Coffee is associated with 24%lower levels of colon cancer, 21% lower incidence of gallstones and an 60% reduction in Parkinson’s Disease and in a dose-dependent manner will reduce inflammation as marked by C-reactive protein. 

     We have all heard that coffee is bad for us, and it does have alkaloids and essential oils that can be overly stimulating. Caffeine can stress our adrenal glands and it is energetically warming which is not always desirable. Most commercially available coffee is highly sprayed with pesticides, which is why shade-grown organic is best. Coffee can potentiate medications or medicinal herbs which means that we may need to adjust dosages. More than three cups daily during pregnancy increases the miscarriage rate (but decaf correlates with even more.) It makes fibrocystic breasts and fibroids worse and eliminating coffee can increase good health in many other areas.

     Coffee can not displace green or black tea which have numerous health benefits. It may keep us up at night (although there are certain individuals who sleep better with it.) In fact many of us who drink coffee are addicted and will get headaches if it is withdrawn, which is not desirable.

Copyright by Karen S. Vaughan, L.Ac., MSTOM

To read the full article: Acupuncture and Herbs, Coffee Herbs