 |
Coffee Antioxidants Versus Green Tea. Coffee  "Americans
get more of their antioxidants from this drink than any other dietary
source. Nothing else comes close," says study leader Joe Vinson, Ph.D.,
a chemistry professor at the university. Although fruits and vegetables
are generally promoted as good sources of antioxidants, the new finding
is surprising because it represents the first time that this drink has
been shown to be the primary source from which most Americans get their
antioxidants, Vinson says. Both caffeinated and decaf versions appear
to provide similar antioxidant levels, he adds.
Coffee antioxidants; He cautions that high antioxidant levels in foods and beverages don't necessarily translate into levels found in the body. The potential health benefits of these antioxidants ultimately depends on how they are absorbed and utilized in the body, a process that is still poorly understood, says Vinson, whose study was primarily funded by the American Cocoa Research Institute.
It also comes at an appropriate time: Consumption is on the rise in the United States and over half of Americans drink it everyday, according to the National Coffee Association. Antioxidants
in general have been linked to a number of potential health benefits,
including protection against heart disease and cancer. For the current
study, Vinson and his associates analyzed the antioxidant content of
more than 100 different food items, including vegetables, fruits, nuts,
spices, oils and common beverages. The data was compared to an existing
U.S. Department of Agriculture database on the contribution of each
type of food item to the average estimated U.S. per capita consumption.
Coffee a Healthy Blend! Coffee antioxidants; on the combined basis of both antioxidants per serving size and frequency of consumption, Vinson says. Java easily outranked such popular antioxidant sources as tea, milk, chocolate and cranberries, he says. Of all the foods and beverages studied, dates actually have the most antioxidants of all based solely on serving size, according to Vinson. But since dates are not consumed at anywhere near the level of caffeine, the blue ribbon goes to our favorite morning pick-me-up as the number one source of antioxidants, he says. 
Coffee Lover's USA gives you the choice of 149 Gourmet Flavored coffees, 100% Organic, Espresso, Origins, Blended, Tea, Coffee scented candles and Coffee gift baskets. Coffee is fresh roasted the day it is shipped. We sell 1 & 5 pound bags. Wehave Regular & Decaf. We also have an info pageon Coffee and Health. Coffee Lovers USA! Besides keeping you alert and awake, coffee antioxidants have been linked to an increasing number of potential health benefits, including protection against liver and colon cancer, type 2 diabetes, and Parkinson's disease, according to some recently published studies. But there's also a downside: coffee can make you jittery and cause stomach pains, while some studies have tied it to elevated blood pressure and heart rates. More research is needed, particularly human studies, to firmly establish its health benefits, besides coffee antioxidants. Vinson says. While the findings would seem to encourage people to go out and drink more, Vinson emphasizes moderation. "One to two cups a day appear to be beneficial," he says. If you don't like coffee, consider drinking black tea, which is the second most consumed antioxidant source in the U.S. diet, Vinson says. Bananas, dry beans and corn placed third, fourth and fifth, respectively. Organic
Coffee antioxidants; Scientists brewed a strong cup of coffee or tea, or they mixed cocoa powder into hot water to make hot chocolate. Then, they collected blood from healthy volunteers and filtered out the plasma containing LDL particles. In each run, a sample of these LDLs was incubated with a small quantity of the beverage. Then, a known oxidant was added to the mix.
Compared to LDLs treated with the oxidant alone, those mixed with a beverage experienced less oxidation.
The protection afforded by each beverage was indicated by the time it took the LDLs to oxidize—the longer the lag time, the better the protection.
In this experimental setup, coffee protected the LDLs for 5.0 to 16.0 hours. By contrast, cocoa protected the lipoproteins for 3.5 to 7.5 hours, green tea for 3.0 to 5.5 hours, black tea for 1.0 to 4.5 hours, and herbal tea for 6 minutes to perhaps an hour. The range of times for each beverage reflects the varying strengths of the batches prepared.
Because there is considerable variation between countries in the way each typically prepares a particular drink, these scientists formulated each beverage in various strengths—and observed a marked dose-dependence in their effects. The more concentrated the brew or cocoa, the better protection it afforded.
Concerned that milk might bind to the antioxidant compounds in one or more of these beverages, Richelle’s group investigated whether adding dairy would compromise a drink’s antioxidant potency. The scientists mixed in enough milk to equal 10 percent of the volume for the brews and a full 66 percent of the volume for cocoa. To their surprise, they found no change in any of the drinks’ LDL protection. Prefer decaf? That’s okay. Coffee antioxidants were in Caffeine free coffee, and offered the same LDL protection in these test-tube studies that the joltin’ joe provided. There is reason to believe the relative benefits seen in the test tubes will hold up in the body. Earlier this year, Japanese researchers showed that the quantity of oxidized LDL in an individual’s blood correlated with the severity of a man’s or woman’s heart disease (SN: 4/21/01, p. 245). In that a little alcohol
also seems to benefit the heart, I think I’ll reach for a “healthy”
dose of Irish coffee. In fact, let’s make it an Irish mocha.
|
And what happens if you add milk? 
