How About Coffee?

Filed in archive General Health on May 1, 2007

Funny this article should come up now. I quit drinking coffee months ago because it seemed to be aggravating mu ulcerative colitis. I missed my coffee, so a few days ago, I decided to give it another chance. Unfortunate;y, I was right about the colitis and yesterday I had a serious flare-up. Coffee is also a diuretic. When I was a regular coffee drinker, I didn't notice this effect, or maybe my body got used to the influx of caffeine. Now, however, I was waking up almost every hour and racing to the bathroom. So - today I'm back on the coffee-free diet.

Then I read this article from Ivanhoe's Medical Breakthroughs listing the benefits of drinking coffee:

Other studies show drinking a lot of coffee can lower the risk of type 2 diabetes. But the link was similar for both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee -- suggesting something besides caffeine may help glucose metabolism. Other ingredients in coffee include chlorogenic acid, magnesium, potassium, and vitamin B3.

There is also evidence that coffee can reduce the risk of several cancers such as those of the colon, rectum, and liver and that it neither prevents nor promotes breast, ovarian, or prostate cancers. But Dr. Lenore Arab of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA says it may increase the risk of leukemia and stomach cancer.

For me, though, coffee is a no-no. Here, from the Teecino web page, is why:

Certain foods including: caffeine, coffee, decaffeinated coffee, insoluble fiber, alcohol, chocolate, hot spices, carbonated drinks and foods high in fat can trigger IBS symptoms.