In the news

Ending the coffee confusion – maybe.

            How many cups of coffee do you drink each day? Have you been told to stop because it raises blood pressure or sets off an episode of atrial fibrillation? Well, the American Heart Association has recently made an attempt to clarify the confusion. But maybe the fat lady hasn’t sung yet. I don’t believe that this is the last word.

            There’s more in a cup of coffee than caffeine. There are at least 2000 different chemicals in that cup, and even that number will vary depending on the strain of the coffee bush, the soil in which it has grown, how the beans are processed and how the final cup is brewed.

Another variable is our genetic variation. The half-life of caffeine within our bodies can range from two to twelve hours. And IMHO even that might vary depending on whether we’re enjoying that cup with or without a donut or Danish.

But here’s what the American Heart Association has determined so far. Overall, coffee drinkers tend to have healthier lives. For instance, those who drink about three to five cups a day have a 20-30 percent lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. As for the risk of triggering a bout of atrial fibrillation, coffee drinkers actually have a lower risk of initiating an episode of AF than non-drinkers – a finding that contradicts what physicians have been telling patients for years.

Moderate coffee drinkers experience less heart failure and fewer strokes. My take on that: caffeine stimulates blood flow through arteries, causing them to periodically expand and thus to remain flexible. That’s exactly what happens when we exercise, which also lowers the risk of heart failure and stroke.

As for LDL cholesterol, the nemesis of heart health, a filtered brew does not raise LDL but unfiltered coffee (think French press) does. Note – I did not read the original paper and I don’t know if the elevation of LDL cholesterol is significant.

A word about caffeine-spiked energy drinks: they are bad news, ranging from driving impairment to sudden cardiac arrest. We’ll save that for another blog post.

Lifestyle

You are what you eat – more evidence

            Omega-3 fatty acids are among the least appreciated of the nutrients that we require not just for good health but for life itself. Among the many detrimental changes in our diet over the past several decades is our failure to maintain an adequate intake of essential fatty acids, those elements that our bodies cannot make but that must be obtained from the environment. They make up a significant portion of the tissues that form our brain and eyes.

            Persons who fail to get omega-3 fats from plants or from seafood, especially young people, are more likely to show aggressive behavior. There are several studies in which juvenile or military miscreants whose diet is supplemented with omega-3 fats become less aggressive. Similar studies of persons with depression or bipolar disorder show the same results.

            Human behavior is exceedingly complex but these findings may offer a clue to the surge in mental disorders in children and in the mob behavior that has been making headlines of late.