Currently viewing the tag: "coffee"

Women, women…is coffee good or bad for you?  I going to tell you something that just might perk you up: A cup of coffee a day may keep stroke away.  Perky?  Good.  Check it:

A recent Swedish study found that women who drank at least one cup of coffee per day had a 22-25% lower risk of stroke than women that drank less or no coffee at all.  Researchers followed 34,670 Swedish women, ages 49 to 83, for about 10 years.  They logged the womens’ coffee consumption habits and then checked hospital records to see how many had a stroke after ten years.  Other risk factors like smoking, weight, high blood pressure and diabetes were adjusted for, coffee drinkers still came out ahead.  Now how’s that for a little boost?

Some doctors warn, however, that this study only proves correlation and not cause.  But I say run with it: If you enjoy coffee, drink away.  No studies have been able to link any negative health effects to drinking a couple cups o’ Joe a day, so you’ve got nothing to lose.  If coffee does in fact offer some protective effects against stroke (it’s a vasoconstrictor, you know), then it’s worth the coffee breath, ladies.

Does your child drink caffeine?  How young is too young to drink “the fuel?”  As an ingredient to many children’s favorites from sodas to candy to ice cream, as well as many over-the-counter pain and cold medications, it behooves parents to know just how caffeine may affect your child.

According to the Nemours Foundation–a pediatric health system and research group–here are some of the ways caffeine affects a child’s body:  Can cause

  • nervous and jittery feelings
  • an upset stomach.
  • headaches.
  • trouble concentrating and sleeping.
  • a spike in heart rateand blood pressure

Madness, to me, is the thought of parents giving their children full-on coffee drinks as beverages.  But hey, who am I to judge?  If it’s no problem for you to handle a screaming, caffeine-amped maniac, then more power to ya.

Even worse, though, is the number of parents feeding their children liquid sugar.  If that isn’t enough caffeine and sugar to whack them out physically and mentally, then throw in some Cap’n Crunch.  Be my guest…it’s your kid.  My girls won’t get caffeine before high school if we can help it, and maybe even college if it’s entirely up to me.

But it’s a tough one with caffeine and sugar permeating most popular kids’ drinks.  In any case, if you are allowing your child to drink soda and coffee beverages to their juvenile hearts’ content, then don’t be surprised when they’re put on the Ritalin at school–it’s a natural progression.

Copyright © 2013 Dr. Nick Campos - All Rights Reserved.