Read the full Reuters article, Coffee, tea, even decaf lowers diabetes risk: study. Posted 12/14/09.

I really like studies that include decaf drinks along with regular coffee. It’s nice being able to differentiate if some of the effects are from coffee, or just the caffeine in it.

Read the full Physorg.com article, “Caffeine doesn’t reverse the negative cognitive impact of alcohol, study shows.” Posted 12/7/09.

According to this study, the caffeine in coffee may make you more alert, but it also may give you a false sense of sobriety. When you haven’t had that caffeine, you are more likely to realize how tired or drunk you are. So, don’t count on coffee to negate all those beers you had.

I spent five years in the Navy, and as numerous people could tell you, sometimes we almost lived on coffee. I could be more toned, but I sure wouldn’t consider myself fat. I haven’t read anything else outside of this article on the topic, but I find it hard to believe coffee alone will make you fat. The article quotes Alisha Kearns, owner of Seven Sisters Coffee House, as saying, “I do believe if you’re mixing coffee with milks, and half-and-halves, and creams, and you’re having one every day, I’m sure that would contribute to it.” I would be inclined to go along with her and think this “fat-ness” is coming from the stuff people are putting in their coffee. Creamer, milk, – I even know of people that add ice cream in place of creamer (I can be guilty of this at times) – and all these fancy drinks people get at coffee shops can’t be that good for you. Ever had a White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino from Starbucks? I’m not a big fan of their regular coffee, but that white chocolate drink is really good. Nutrition information directly from Starbucks on a small (tall in Starbucks terms) White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino, with no whipped cream; basically as healthy as this drink gets:

This isn’t a shot at Starbucks, simply an illustration; many specialty coffee drinks are just as bad. While you may take pleasure in drinking coffee because of its calorie or fat content, you should probably add up all the stuff you’re putting in it before you start talking about how healthy your morning drink is. I used to work with a guy who would get two of these large-size frappuccino-type drinks from Seattle’s Best every day. He would always say, “it’s just coffee, it’s not that bad.”

The investigators want to see a similar study done using decaffeinated coffee before they can tell if it was the coffee or the caffeine that affected the outcome.

Read the full article.

Resources:

• “Coffee may lower endometrial cancer risk,” article by Reuters Health
• International Journal of Cancer
• Endometrial Cancer at WebMD

Maybe this works and maybe it doesn’t, but what I do know, is that it’s another excuse people can use to drink coffee. Don’t get too excited yet though; it appears this drink is currently only available in Singapore.

Read the full article, “Now, instant facelift with a cup of coffee” at The Times of India