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Recent research suggests that drinking even a small amount of coffee each day can result in addiction.
Coffee stimulates the central nervous system, it increases what is known as the "stress hormones" into one's blood steams which results in the consumer feeling unnaturally alert. The alertness caused by coffee is called 'induced' alertness which tends to subdue your body's natural functioning and manipulates its instincts to prevent it from relaxing. This causes the individual to get stressed out and it leads to various kinds of disorders.
When you have a coffee addiction, the effects of withdrawal can be quite noticeable. Here are just some of the symptoms people feel when suddenly deprived of their caffeine fix:
- headache
- fatigue or drowsiness
- depression or irritability
- difficulty in concentrating
- flu like symptoms including nausea, muscle pain and stiffness
Coffee health effects.
There are very few calories if someone drink black coffee. Coffee is a mild stimulant, is packed with antioxidants and can stand head to head with most other "health" beverages in your local health food store.
The problem with the calories in your coffee is not about the coffee at all. It's about what you add to your coffee. Sugar, milk, cream, soy and syrups can all add a lot of extra calories.
A rough breakdown of the calories you can expect to consume, according to how you like to take your coffee. The figures listed below are for 12-ounce servings.
- Regular cup of coffee, no cream or sugar --> 10 calories
- Regular cup of coffee, plus cream & sugar --> 110 calories
- Cappuccino --> 120 calories
- Latte --> 200 calories
- Mocha with whipped cream --> 310 calories
- Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino --> 370 calories
Are you addicted to coffee ?
It is good to know that coffee has some benefits to health. However, these results should not be interpreted as an incentive to increase your daily coffee intake . Too much coffee may actually increase the risk of the heart disease for some people. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition June 2005, researchers from the University of Athens found that coffee drinkers had more stiffness of the major blood vessel in the body then non-coffee drinkers. Suggested for people with high blood pressure or other risk factors for heart disease who drink more than 3 cups of coffee a day to cut down.
Coffee is the No. 1 source of antioxidants in the American diet, researchers from the University of Scranton released on August 29, 2005. Black tea is the second. Substances or nutrients in foods that can prevent or slow oxidize damage to the our body is called antioxidants. When our cells utilize oxygen, they naturally produce free radicals (by-products) which can cause damage to other cells. Antioxidants act as "free radical scavengers" and hence prevent and repair damage inflicted by these free radicals. Fruits and vegetables are hailed as the richest sources of antioxidants. Both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee appears to provide similar amounts of antioxidants.
Coffee also can help in the prevention and treatment of diseases and illness as varied as Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, liver disease, skin cancer, Parkinson's disease and more.
How many calories in coffee ?
Coffee is the most popular beverage worldwide with over 400 billion cups consumed each year. Coffee flavors have taken a giant leap into the 21st century. Flavoring can be added to gourmet coffees to create fascinating bright tastes. The process involved in flavoring coffee means that flavorings are added to coffee beans while they are still warm and absorbent immediately after roasting. Flavored whole beans are usually separated into four categories: vanilla-based flavors, which including cremes (such as French vanilla or Irish creme) and the nut-based flavors (such as macadamia nut or hazelnut), chocolate-based flavors such as chocolate mint, fruit-based flavors such as raspberry, or coconut spice-based flavors such as cinnamon.You can also use coffee syrups. They are similar to chocolate syrup, but with a coffee flavor. The best known brands are Coffee Time, Autocrat and Eclipse.
Coffee syrup is the main ingredient in coffee milk. If you are concerned about your diet, you can choose sugar free coffee syrup.
Coffee benefits.
Instant coffee or soluble coffee or coffee powder, is a beverage derived from brewed coffee beans. Through various manufacturing process the coffee is dehydrated into the form of powder or granules. These can be rehydrated with hot water to provide a drink similar to conventional coffee. At least one brand of instant coffee is also available in concentrated liquid form.
The advantages of instant coffee are speed of preparation (instant coffee dissolves instantly in hot water), less weight and volume than beans or ground coffee to prepare the same amount of drink, and long shelf life. Coffee beans, and especially ground coffee, loss flavor as the essential oils evaporate over time.
Although it has long shelf life, instant coffee quickly spoils if it is not kept dry. In particular, the percentage of caffeine in instant coffee is less, and bitter flavor components are more evident.
Flavored coffee beans types.
The four terms : acidity, body, aroma and flavor are used by professionals when evaluating coffee quality. Coffee beans that rate well in all four areas are described as "well-balanced". One way to become familiar with the bean characteristics is to try coffee tasting, also known as "coffee cupping".
1. Acidity
Coffee with good acidity tastes bright, with a pleasant sharpness similar to a dry white wine. Acidity is a desirable characteristic and can be fruity or metallic. Without acidity, coffee tastes bland or flat.
2. Body
Body is the word used to describe the way of coffee feels in your mouth. A full bodied coffee, will feel thick, rich or heavy. A medium bodied coffee, will feel lighter. If you like milk in your coffee, a heavier bodied coffee will maintain more flavor when the milk is added. With a mouth full of coffee, you can assess the body by running your tongue across the roof of your mouth. You will be able to feel oiliness and thickness, which together define body. Body can be thin, thick, dry, syrupy, etc.
3. Aroma
When coffee beans are roasted, they release the fragrant oils that make the coffee aroma. High quality coffee beans will contain up to 3 times more fragrant oils than inferior beans.
4. Flavor
Flavor is the combined effect on the tastebud of the acidity, body and aroma of the coffee bean. Terms used to describe flavor usually draw comparison with other familiar taste, such as nutty, spicy, or watery. Here are some common terms used to describe the flavor of coffee beans:
-Positive Flavor: Nutty, Spicy, Fruity, Mellow, Caramelly, Chocolaty, Winey, Floral, Smokey, Tangy.
- Negative Flavor: Grassy, Chemically, Muddy, Watery, Rubbery, Rioy (a medicinal taste).
Instant Coffee.
Coffea arabica, known as Arabica coffee, accounts for 75-80 percent of the world's production. Coffea canephora, known as Robusta coffee, accounts for about 20 percent and differs from the Arabica coffee in terms of taste. While Robusta coffee beans are more robust than the Arabica plants, but produce an inferior tasting beverage with higher caffeine content.There are three main varieties of coffee accepted as commercial coffees though there are many hundreds of sub-varieties grown world wide.
1. Arabica Coffee
2. Robusta Coffee
3. Liberica Coffee
Liberica coffee, is the last important of the three varieties. It is hardy and resists disease well but cannot tolerate drought or neglect. The quantity of coffee produced from these species is in fact negligible.
Coffee beans characteristics.
