Coffee Maybe Not a Health Drink!

perbert writes "Canadian researchers have published a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association indicating that excess coffee drinking (4+ cups a day) could lead to an increased risk of heart disease if you have the wrong gene. In light of other studies linking antioxidants in coffee to a reduction in heart disease, who is right? Or will they cancel out in a coffee death-match?"

Comments

Well,

[deletedaccount]

I've started injecting it, so I'm not sure how this applies to me.

To quote a much more sensible man than me ...

[SpooForBrains]

... namely one Commander Samuel Vimes: "Coffee is merely a way of stealing time that by rights should belong to your slightly older self".

The coffee dilemma; a management perspective

[dcavanaugh]

Health hazard or health drink? What to do? The answer is simple. Find studies that support your pre-determined point of view and use those to guide the decision. I like coffee very much. Caffeine addiction is not a problem so long as I can find at least one study that proves how healthy my coffee habit is.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming, "TCO analysis for the enterprise"

Re:The coffee dilemma; a management perspective

[wrfelts]

The corporate TCO Analysis goes something like this.

The peons like coffee. We need more productivity. Coffee is a stimulant. Give them more coffee to increase productivity. Oops, now they spend too much time around the coffee pot! Buy bad coffee, they are addicted anyway. Oh no, now their health is declining and our insurance bills are going up! No problem, just make them pay most of the premiums. They won't be able to afford to quit that way...

In other news...

[BecomingLumberg]

In other news, drinking/eating too much of $SUBSTANCE could lead to $HEALTH.PROBLEM.

What does this mean...

[dantheman82]

for the future of Java? For now, I'm drinking green tea and coding in C#.

Re:Who Cares

[TripMaster Monkey]

It is by coffee alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the juice of the java bean that thoughts acquire speed.
The teeth acquire stains; the stains become a warning.
It is by coffee alone I set my mind in motion.

Apologies to Frank Herbert.

Studies have shown...

[Anonymous Coward]

"Studies have shown that research causes cancer in lab rats."

Totally offtopic about your signature

[fistfullast33l]

while ($beer != full) { $beer = new Beer(); chug($beer); }

So here's a small problem with your signature - you run the while loop until the beer is full...but you chug the beer inside the while loop. Which means that once your beer is full...you stop drinking. Of course, this is all dependent upon the fact that chug doesn't empty the glass, which is usually what happens when you chug...so basically I think you need to check the return of chug to make sure it didn't fail. Otherwise you might have problems.

Sorry for wasting your time.

Re:Totally offtopic about your signature

[flooey]

In re-reading this I'm coming to terms with the fact that maybe I need to GET A LIFE!

Or a beer.

Re:Still waking up

[masterzora]

I'm sorry, I don't speak Starbucks.

Two Apropos Quotes

[SeanDuggan]

"You know you're old when you remember when bacon, eggs, and sunshine were good for you."
"Studies show that research causes cancer in lab rats."

Quite honestly, all that these studies keep showing is that we still really don't understand how it all works and that, for now, you should just go ahead and eat what makes you feel healthy and good.

Coffee

[Himring]

I quit all other drugs in my life. The only thing I have left is coffee. They can take it when they pry it from my cold (well, warmed), dead fingers. I started drinking it in college and fell in love. It's the right way to start a morning. It doesn't offend with its smell like tobacco. It doesn't impair driving like alcohol. It is the primordial source of gathering in the break room. It is the basis for the original Terry Tate, Office Linebacker skit. It gives cops something to hold along with a donut. It provided cease fires during the Civil War as the south traded tobacco for coffee with the north. It is the foundation of eclectic, bohemian establishments wherein college kids make it, and other college kids drink it (coffee shops) and also birthed some of the first public access to the Internet outside of libraries. It is a primary staple product in many South American countries. It's something that (according to my systematics professor) the English don't make very well. It revs you up before anything you need revving up for. I use it before my workout too. It is best when freshly ground and french-pressed. It has created many wonderful cups that say things on them. It gives dentists something to clean during checkups. Wtf beat it up? Study says this/study says that.

Next: water -- a study shows too much of it can make your lungs stop producing needful oxygen....

Time for a bigger cup

[Helmholtz]

Since it's the number of cups that makes a difference, I guess I just need to switch to a bigger cup .....

Re:Paracelso once said...

[thannine]

Especially in the U.S.

HA! Take that, you caffeine-addicted wankers!

[wheany]

I really don't get geeks' caffeine worship. Some seem to think that it's somehow a good thing to not be able to wake up properly before drinking half a pot of coffee.

Oh, and all you self-righteous green tea drinking hippies are no better.

Re:Dose

[0NoQuarter14]

If anyone ever tells you to do a lot of anything, run the other way.

But don't run too far.

Warning: This May Be Harmful To Your Health

[ackthpt]

"Coffee Maybe Not a Health Drink!" Gasp! :-)

From a life-long geek's perspective:

• I've sat for hours, for years in front of 25" colour TVs before they reduced radiation emissions.
• I've eaten countless bags of crisps flavoured with chemicals for visual and taste enhancements and dusted with MSG
• I've eaten countless pounds of fried foods
• I've made my share of /. typos (inadvertent and purposful)
• I've raced on a bicycle over 60 MPH downhill
• I've been hit with kilovolt shocks
• I attended dozens of indoors Hamfests, choked with the smog of hundreds of cigarettes, plus a few pipes and cigars.
• I've been run over by a car
• I've drunk a Mickey's Bigmouth
• I flew on a jet that bounced on the runway at Baltimore
• I fell out of a raft in the middle of Lost Paddle class V rapids in the Upper Gauley river of West Virginia
• I've collided with my brother's sled on an icy hill in Michigan, nearly fracturing my skull.
• I've been in 3 auto accidents
• I've lept off a 40 foot cliff into a flooded quarry
  • I'm not done yet.

    Regarding health, it will be bad for someone's if I don't get my coffee.

Re:Who Cares

[Scarblac]

I must drink coffee. It is the mind filler. It is the little shot that brings total caffeination. I will taste my coffee. I will allow it to pass through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the coffee has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. Then I must drink more coffee. It is the mind filler...