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ArcaMax Publishing > Lifestyles > The You Docs

Wake Up To The Drink That Makes You Live Longer

Talk about starting the day right. Your morning coffee (and any you drink later) may reduce your risk of premature death. Two to three cups a day cut it by 18 percent in women and 3 percent in men, according to a new study of more than 100,000 people. And the more everyone drank, the lower the risk. Credit may go to coffee's potent antioxidants, which seem to fend off cardiovascular disease. Whatever the mechanism, the benefits are unbeatable: You're less likely to die. And that's on top of the other health goodies we already know are in this brew:

4 cups (32 ounces) of java a day can cut your diabetes risk by a third, possibly by improving insulin's effects.

3 cups (24 ounces) a day protects your brain, dropping your risk of Parkinson's disease by 40 percent and Alzheimer's disease by 20 percent.

2 cups (16 ounces) a day keeps your hardworking liver healthy, as it filters out pollutants, makes protein, warehouses extra carbs and vitamins, and helps produce bile needed to digest fat.

Many of these benefits also come from decaf -- good news if caffeine disturbs your blood pressure or ability to sleep. Just be sure you make coffee with a paper filter; the paper traps a compound that otherwise increases lousy LDL cholesterol. That said, there are almost no other coffee caveats, except this: If regular-strength brew is what you groove to, get some extra calcium, because caffeine makes you excrete this bone builder. For every 8 ounces of coffee, get an extra 40 milligrams of calcium. Conveniently, that's almost exactly the amount in 2 tablespoons of skim milk -- so if you like coffee with milk, you're good to go. Dr. Mike prefers that you drink it black accompanied by a calcium/magnesium/vitamin D tablet ... but that's a topic for another column.

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The YOU Docs -- Mike Roizen and Mehmet Oz -- are authors of the best-selling "YOU: The Owner's Manual" and "YOU: On a Diet." To submit questions and find ways to grow younger and healthier, go to www.RealAge.com, the docs' online home. (c) 2008 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.



This news arrived on: 07/14/2008

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