While some of us prefer tea first thing in the morning, many can’t wait for that first cup of freshly brewed coffee! Sadly, this morning treat could eventually become extinct. But there is plenty of time to withdraw from a coffee addiction.
By the year 2080 the wild Arabica bean could be wiped out by global warming and deforestation. The Arabica bean goes into 70 percent of the world’s coffee. This warning has been studied by U.K. and Ethiopian researchers.
Researchers at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew (UK) and the Environment and Coffee Forest Forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia looked at how climate changes might make some land unsuitable for Arabica plants, which are highly vulnerable to temperature change and other dangers including pests and disease.
They came up with the concept that predicts a 38 percent reduction in land capable of yielding Arabica by 2080. The worst-case scenario indicates the loss at between 90 and 100 percent.
This is terrible news for both coffee drinkers and coffee-producing countries such as Ethiopia, Brazil and Columbia which in 2009-2010 shipped some 93 million bags of coffee around the world, worth an estimated $15.4 billion. The total employment estimated at about 26 million people in 52 producing countries. Twenty-five million families rely on growing coffee for a living.
Arabica and robusta coffee are the two main species used in the production although the former is by far the most significant. The productivity (green bean yield) of Arabica is tightly linked to climatic variability, and is thus strongly influenced by natural climatic changes.
There are health benefits and disadvantage of coffee. While the enjoyment of a cup of coffee more than three cups a day can provide many with jitters and other side effect. This varies from person to person.
For Example, in the field of sports its use is legal and only at high, levels have been banned from varies sport. Its use is widespread by athletes as young as 11 years of age who are seeking athletic advantage over fellow competitors. Chronic use of caffeine leads to dependence, tolerance, cravings and when stopped suddenly unpleasant withdrawal symptoms occur. The use of any caffeinated beverage or substance means the pharmacological criteria by which coaches and people in sports team authorities have classified caffeine as drugs of abuse.
Coffee acutely modifies gastrointestinal hormone secretion and glucose tolerance in humans. Accumulating evidence suggest that certain dietary polyphenols have biological effects in the small intestine that alter the pattern of glucose uptake. There effects, however, on glucose tolerance in humans are unknown.
A study from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition says glucose and insulin concentration tended to be higher in the first 30 minutes after consumption.
Coffee is also a rich source of many other ingredients that may contribute to its biological activity, like heterocyclic compounds that exhibit strong antioxidant activity. In a report published on PubMed it said “Based on the literature reviewed, it is apparent that moderate daily filtered, coffee intake is not associated with any adverse effects on cardiovascular outcomes. On the contrary, the data shows that coffee has a significant antioxidant activity, and may have an inverse association with the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus.”
Consumption of 3-4 cups of coffee per day decreased the risk of hypertension in non-smoking men and women.
Feeling energized by just 100-200 mg of caffeine, levels of norepinephrine, epinephrine and adrenaline increase. This is the same “flight or fight” response to a perceived threat that sends the message – think fast, act fast. You experience a surge in mental alertness and increased muscle coordination and endurance. The pupils dilate, the heart beats faster, blood vessels and breathing tubes dilate, muscle constrict, and the liver releases sugar and free fatty acids into the blood for energy. You are literally poised and ready to outrace and potential danger that might be coming towards you. But most of the time your response is while you are at your desk or in the car!
Crash and burn soon follows. When the surge is over and the adrenaline levels drop, fatigue, irritability, inability to concentrate, headache and weariness takes over. Which can generate the cravings for sugar and more caffeine.
Caffeine is available in all kinds of products. To name a few energy bars, mints and peanut butter and, yes, even jelly beans.
The Department of Agriculture’s guidelines for American adults suggests up to 400 mg of caffeine per day, the amount in two to four 8 ounce cups of coffee can be a healthy amount. The FDA says 600 mg. per day is too much. A 12-ounce cup of typical brewed coffee has 142 mg. of caffeine. Black tea has 72 mg. and green tea has 43 mg in 12 ounces.
The journal Gastroenterology reported in 2005 that more than two cups of coffee a day may actually cut the risk of serious liver damage in half for people who are obese, diabetic, alcoholic, and have too much iron in their blood.
To cut the amount of pesticides you ingest with each cup. Consider buying Organic Fair Trade coffee to promote the ethical treatment of coffee farmers around the world (most of whom live in poverty-stricken regions. The Fair Trade coffee wholesale minimum price for a pound of picked coffee beans is only US $1.41 – less than one cup of drip coffee at any gourmet coffee shop.
REFERENCES
CBC News– Coffee Beans in Danger of Extinction, November 9, 2012.
PLOS– The Impact of Climate Changes on Indigenous Arabica Coffee (Coffea araboca): Predicting Future Trends and Identifying Priorities. Published November 7, 2012, http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0047981.
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition – October 2003, vol. 78no. 4 728-733. Coffee acutely modifies gastrointestinal hormone secretion and glucose tolerance in humans: glycemic effects of chlorogenic acid and caffeine. Kelly L. Johnston, Michael N. Clifford, and Linda M. Morgan.
PubMed – Coffee consumption and human health – beneficial or detrimental? – Mechanisms for effects of coffee consumption on different risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Tanheim T, Halvorsen B. Mol Nutr Food Res 2005 Mar:49(3): 274-84.
Women to Women – The Caffeine Controversy – What’s the Buzz?
Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP. www.womentowomen.com.
Consumer Reports On Health– Are You Getting Too Much Caffeine?
Food Sense column.
