Sharing Some Good News
I don’t know about you, but I often find watching the
news to be alarming and sad. As a
result, I don’t often watch the news. To
be honest, I don’t often watch television.
All I can say about that…who has time?
My oldest son once told me that I live in a bubble
(oblivious of all that is going on around me), to which I replied, “Well don’t
pop it. I like it in my bubble”. I remember telling my mother once if anything
huge was going on in the world, to please let me know.
Myself, I like to hear good news. In all of my reading I recently read in two
different publications what I personally consider to be good news; excellent
news in fact! Harvard studies show that drinking coffee can have positive
impact on your health! Now isn’t that
excellent news? Well, it certainly is
for me because I have always been a huge fan of the java bean!
Studies show that the more coffee you drink, the more you may lower
your risk of Type 2 diabetes. Harvard
University looked at 28 studies with more than a million combined participants
and found that people who downed six 8- ounce cups of java daily had a 33%
lower risk of diabetes. (Don’t worry if
you are not a six cup a day drinker…researchers found each cup lowered risk by
about 9%)
It appears it’s not necessarily the caffeine at work;
but rather the chlorogenic acid is behind the benefit. This naturally occurring chemical reduces the
rate at which your intestines absorb glucose.
And here is even more good news about my favorite
beverage...in a recent study, researchers gave coffee to a group of study
participants after a study session. They
wanted to see if the caffeine would help them retain what they had learned –
and it did! Those who were given
caffeine after doing a mental test remembered the results better the next day
than those who didn’t consume caffeine.
So if you want to remember something you learned, try sipping a cup of
coffee immediately afterwards!
Apparently the ideal dose to enhance memory is about 200 milligrams of
caffeine or about 10 ounces of your favorite brew.
I know, I know...often we roll our eyes when we hear about
all of these new studies that are being thrown our direction. In a situation like this, I tend to grab on
to the positive ones that sound appealing; and these little nuggets of
good news sound like a winner to me!
And while we are discussing coffee, join me in
welcoming our new coffee shop in West Liberty…Coffee Matters. It is
awesome to know that coffee is once again brewing down on the corner. Their hours are Tuesday thru Friday; 7-2 and
Saturday 8-12. Tell them I sent you
in…to enhance your memory with a cup of Joe!!
Coffee Banana Protein Smoothie
A delicious smoothie packed with protein to keep you going plus the
jolt of caffeine.
Ingredients:
•1 frozen banana, cut into chunks•1 cup of brewed coffee, chilled
•1 cups of crushed ice
•1 container vanilla Greek yogurt (5.3 oz)
•1 tablespoon ground flax seed
•½ teaspoon Chia seeds
Instructions:
1. Blend all ingredients on high until
well-blended.
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