How convenient that the price of coffee is rising just as its medical benefits are being uncovered. A team of Israeli researchers have found that 200 mg. of caffeine (or about three cups of joe) is good for the circulatory system and protects against heart attacks (presumably the same amount of caffeine in tea would have similar results).
For the study (which you can read here) the researchers did a double-blind study with eighty adults (half healthy, half with heart problems). Twice a week they gave the participants a pill containing either caffeine or nothing and then, after an hour, had their blood taken and their circulation examined via ultrasound.
Somewhat surprisingly considering the bad rap that caffeine often gets in popular culture (if not necessarily in recent medical studies) they found that its consumption improves a number of bodily functions. In science-speak they found it improved "the functioning of the endothelium by 30 percent, reduces by 40 percent the C-reactive (CRP) protein in the body a leading predictor of heart attacks and stroke, and increases by 25 percent the amount of adiponectin, a protein which prevents heart attacks and strokes."
Thank goodness Starbucks has their new trenta cups—one iced coffee trenta has to have 200 mg. of caffeine it, right?
