Little Known Facts About Coffee

That cup of coffee you’re enjoying is full of surprises.Here are a few facts that scientists around the world have reported: 

Coffee Has More Fiber than Orange Juice, and Antioxidants, Too.

Doctors tell us that fiber is good for us and that antioxidants help keep us young and disease free. Well, Coffee delivers on both counts. In a Spanish study, scientists concluded that “brewed coffee contained a significantly higher amount of soluble dietary fiber…than other common beverages. Coffee’s dietary fiber contains a large amount of associated antioxidant phenolics...” 1AA 

Coffee Keeps Your Mouth Moist.

Does your mouth sometimes get dry, such as when you take medication? Well, to help relieve it, a research group in Poland suggests you try drinking a cappuccino! Drymouth is called xerostomia in medicine, and here’s what the doctors found: “The five-minute drinking of 15.0 g ofcappuccino coffee increased the amount of saliva, decreased xerostomia, and improved the ability of speech.The beneficial effect of coffee lasted from 0.5 to 4 (average about  2) hours.” 2 

Coffee Can Improve Handwriting.

One study from Germany found that caffeine can produce improvements in handwriting. After consuming caffeine, subjects had more fluent handwriting movements and wrote more quickly.3 

Sipping Coffee Wakes You Up.

If you’re counting on coffee to keep you alert on a sleep-deprived day or a long drive, drink small amounts throughout the day. This finding is from a group studying sleep and wakefulness at Harvard Medical School.4 

Coffee Does Not Make You Shaky.

Doctors in Singapore explored the relationship between caffeine and essential tremor, which is a tremor of no known cause. Contrary to myth, they found that “Caffeine consumption was not associated with risk of essential tremor in our study population.” 5 

Coffee Can Improve Your Mood.

That cup of coffee with breakfast can put you in a good mood, according to scientists at the University of Wales College of Cardiff in the U.K. In addition to performing better on tasks involving memory and logical reasoning,“…subjects given caffeine also reported greater alertness and feelings of well-being…” 6 

For flavorful and healthful food creations, try the coffeerecipes available at http://www.coffeescience.org/. 

1Dietary fiber in brewed coffee. J Agric Food Chem: 2007.2Cappuccino coffee treatment of xerostomia in patients taking tricyclicantidepressants: preliminary report. Gdansk Academy of Medicine, Poland: 2002.3The effect of caffeine on handwriting movements in skilled writers.Hum Mov Sci: 2006.4Low-dose repeated caffeine administration for circadian-phase-dependentperformance degradation during extended wakefulness. Sleep: 2004.5Exploring the relationship between caffeine intake and essential tremor. J NeurolSci: 2006.6Effects of breakfast and caffeine on performance and mood in the late morningand after lunch. Neuropsychobiology: 1992.  

NATIONAL COFFEE ASSOCIATION OF U.S.A., INC. • http://www.coffeescience.org/