If you want to be young & healthy, drink your coffee. Coffee is surrounded by myths, both good and bad. Its ability to invigorate and cause insomnia is absolutely true. Its main effect on the body is stimulation of the nervous system.

No matter what they say about coffee being harmful, moderation is the key to success, doctors say. Research conducted by American biologists revealed that two to three cups a day is more than enough to provide protection for the heart, slightly increase metabolism and even reduce appetite if you have excessive weight issues. Coffee has as much antioxidants as green tea, which means in theory it protects body from cancer and slows down aging.

It’s the antioxidants & not the caffeine that give it the bitterness.

According to a legend, coffee was first discovered and brewed approximately in 800 A.D. in Africa. Kaldi, an Ethiopian goat-herder, was frustrated because his goats kept him awake. He decided to find out what made them so lively. He noticed they were eating some red berries of a tree. He took the berries to a local abbot where the entrepreneurial African monks brewed the first coffee that they later used to pray all night long.

Because of its caffeine content, most adamant critics claim that excessive coffee consumption may lead to a heart attack, and there is some truth to it. However, American experts calculated that a lethal dose of caffeine is 10 to 13 grams, which means that you have to drink 23 litres of coffee at a time to die. This is more than a hundred cups. Anyway, such volume of liquid would kill you faster than caffeine.

Caffeine is the best friend of fitness – Two cups a day help to deal with muscle aches after intense exercise, scientists from the University of Georgia claim. It is not required to drink coffee on a regular basis. Just two cups after a training session are enough to restore the muscles.

Coffee is better than wine – Red wine and champagne are considered to be traditional beverages for a romantic dinner. Men might want to reconsider this tradition. It you have some hot romantic after-dinner ideas, give your lady some coffee, researches from the South West University recommend.

They conducted a series of experiments on female lab rats and found out that a dose of caffeine prompts the rodents for more frequent sexual contacts. There is a “but” – the beverage will only be effective provided the lady does not drink coffee on a regular basis. If she is a habitual coffee drinker, you will have to rely on wine and your personal charm.

There is a theory that a dose of caffeine may help men be more active in bed. Caffeine improves the blood flow, which means the blood is carried better to the sexual organs as well. As a result, the possibility of an erection and its duration may increase; therefore coffee can be considered a substance for prevention of erectile dysfunction.

Scientists have discovered that coffee contains potent antioxidants that can fight cancer & numerous ailments, including heart disease and diabetes. According to the American Coffee Association, 54 percent of Americans drink coffee on a daily basis, and they drink, on average, over three cups each. 

The diseases coffee can benefit include:

• Dementia. Drinking moderate amounts of coffee during middle age — classified as three to five cups daily — can decrease the risk of dementia by 65 percent, according to a 2009 study by Swedish and Finnish researchers.

• Liver disease. In those who drink too much alcohol, those who drank the most coffee — more than four cups every day — reduced their risk of developing alcoholic cirrhosis by 80 percent.

• Heart disease. Research associated with The Nurses’ Health Study found that women who drank two to three cups of coffee daily had a 25 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease. Along the same line, a Spanish study found that men who drank more than five cups of coffee each day lowered their risk of dying from heart disease by 44 percent, and that women who drank four to five cups each day reduced their risk by 34 percent.

• Prostate cancer. A recent study from Harvard Medical School found that men who drank the most coffee slashed their risk of developing the fastest growing and most difficult to treat prostate cancers by more than half when compared to men who drank no coffee.

• Gout. Drinking four or more cups of coffee each day dramatically reduces the incidence of gout, say U.S. and Canadian researchers. Men who drank four to five cups daily lowered their risk by 40 percent, and those who drank six or more cups daily reduced their risk of developing gout by 59 percent when compared to men who didn’t drink coffee. 

• Breast cancer. Coffee can either reduce the risk of developing breast cancer or delay its onset, according to Swedish studies. They found that coffee alters a woman’s metabolism and produces a safer balance of estrogens. Women who drank two to three cups of coffee a day reduced their cancer risk by as much as two-thirds, depending on the specific type of breast cancer.

• Diabetes. Enjoying six or more cups of coffee daily can cut chances of Type 2 diabetes by 54 percent in men and 30 percent in women over those who don’t drink coffee.

• Parkinson’s disease. Several studies show that drinking coffee lowers a man’s risk of developing Parkinson’s up to 80 percent — and the more the better.

• Colon cancer. A Japanese report found that women who drank three or more cups of coffee every day slashed their risk of developing colon cancer in half. 

What’s responsible for coffee’s healthy benefits? Most researchers believe it’s the antioxidants (polyphenols or flavonoids) in coffee, but there are hundreds of compounds in coffee that may be partially responsible.

Coffee even protects against mouth cancer.

Overall, its benefits far outweigh its side effects.