Health Benefits of Drinking Coffee

Health Benefits of Drinking Coffee image via https://www.pixabay.com Antioxidants Antioxidants are found in coffee. Antioxidants are substances that can help prevent cell damage of some types. According to a study by researchers at the University of Scranton, coffee is ranked the “number one source of antioxidants.” This is ranked over fruits and vegetables. Antioxidants have a wide range of health benefits including healthy skin, immune systems, and memory. All three of these areas are essential to a college student. No one really wants to deal with bad skin, students prefer to stay relatively healthy, and memory plays a huge role in test taking and even remembering scheduled assignments, meetings, and exams. Although fruits and vegetables provide a lot of antioxidants, coffee provides even more. Coffee and Parkinson’s Disease According to the National Parkinson Foundation website, coffee can be used to treat the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease. There is a lot of research that drinking coffee can help prevent getting Parkinson’s Disease, but this new research shows us that coffee can also benefit people who already have it. Parkinson’s Disease is a chronic movement disorder that is progressive or continues to worsen over time. Part of Parkinsons is constant tremors in various parts of the body. Depending on the timeline of severity, most people tend to not be able to live alone and need total care. There is no current cure for Parkinson’s and the specific cause is unknown, but it helps to have some outside factors that help alleviate the symptoms associated with the disease. Coffee is one of those outside factors. Stress Coffee can be used as a fairly healthy way to alleviate stress. As a college student, you more than likely have some stress in your life. Instead of turning to harmful substances and outlets, you can drink coffee to help soothe you. Stress has many negative effects on your health, so it is best to avoid it or work to alleviate it the best and most healthy way you can. Stress can affect people physically and mentally and can lead to other issues such as depression and weak immune systems. Naturally, the college life brings a lot of stress to students. With school assignments, extracurricular commitments, maintaining social lives and trying to perform well academically, it is easy to see where stress would come from. Since coffee is so accessible and better than unhealthy substances, college students should consider drinking it to help take some of the stress off of their shoulders. Mood It is no secret that coffee can definitely lift your spirits. It gives bursts of energy to you when you’re not feeling the most energetic. If you wake up in a poor mood, you may want to give coffee a try. It is interesting trying to figure out what type of coffee works the best for you. It’s all about trial and error when it comes to figuring that out. You may like caffeinated versus decaffeinated. You may like less cream or more sugar. Once you get your perfect coffee order down, it can really help to put you in a good mood. College students can oftentimes use a pick-me-up with the large workload they are bogged down with. Coffee can help to achieve that. Suicide According to the Harvard Gazette, a study shows that coffee consumption can lower the risk of suicide. Going hand in hand with mood elevation, coffee helps to increase the production of neurotransmitters. Chemicals like serotonin and dopamine, make you feel good and this, in turn, lifts your mood and overall feeling of happiness. For more information about the study, check out the article from the Harvard Gazette. If you are dealing with feelings of worthlessness and suicidal thoughts, please call the Suicide Hotline and someone will talk to you (1-800-273-8255). Although everything should be in moderation, rather than excessiveness, next time you drink your cup of Joe, remember the health benefits it provides for you. None of the above-mentioned topics concerning coffee is foolproof and guaranteed to work for everyone. For more health benefits of coffee, check out this Huffington Post article.