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Caffeine May Counter Age-Related Inflammation, Says Study (stanford.edu)
According to a new Stanford study published in the journal Nature Medicine, caffeine may help to counter the inflammatory process that occurs in some older people. The researchers have found a connection between advancing age, systemic inflammation, cardiovascular disease and coffee consumption by analyzing blood samples, survey data and medical and family histories obtained from more than 100 human participants in a multiyear study. Stanford Medical Center Report adds: The study implicates this inflammatory process as a driver of cardiovascular disease and increased rates of mortality overall. Metabolites, or breakdown products, of nucleic acids -- the molecules that serve as building blocks for our genes -- circulating in the blood can trigger this inflammatory process, the study found. The study also provides evidence that caffeine and its own metabolites may counter the action of these circulating nucleic-acid metabolites, possibly explaining why coffee drinkers tend to live longer than abstainers. Notably, this inflammatory mechanism was found to be activated only in some, but not all, of the older study participants. Those in whom it was relatively quiescent tended to drink more caffeinated beverages. Laboratory experiments revealed that the mechanism was directly countered by caffeine and associated compounds. For the new study, the researchers compared blood drawn from older versus younger study participants to see which genes tended to be more highly activated in older people. They zeroed in on two clusters of genes whose activity was associated with the production of a potent circulating inflammatory protein called IL-1-beta. The genes within each cluster appeared to work in coordination with one another. The researchers found that incubating a type of immune cell with two of those nucleic-acid metabolites boosted activity in one of the gene clusters, resulting in increased IL-1-beta production. When injected into mice, the substances triggered massive systemic inflammation, along with high blood pressure. In addition, immune cells infiltrated and clogged the animals' kidneys, increasing renal pressure substantially. Intrigued by the correlation between older participants' health, gene-cluster activation and self-reported rates of caffeine consumption, the researchers followed up and verified that blood from the group with low cluster activity was enriched for caffeine and a number of its metabolites, compared with blood from the group with high cluster activity. (Examples of these metabolites are theophylline, also found in tea, and theobromine, which abounds in chocolate.) Incubating immune cells with caffeine and its breakdown products along with the inflammation-triggering nucleic acid metabolites substantially prevented the latter from exerting their powerful inflammatory effect on the cells.
That means I AM IMMORTAL!
All hail the dew.
Why are you shaking like that?
Low dose aspitin is commonly recommended for those at risk of heart problems. It is an anti-inflamitory, anti-coagulant and arguably even cheaper than caffiene.
"I bless every day that I continue to live, for every day is pure profit."
How frequently we hear studies how certain lucrative industries, like one where there is a margin of 700%-2000% in the product, "it is amazing for your health". What a coincidence this was broadcast in the news earlier on today too. Someone must be paying $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
Laziness and impatience drives obscene profit margins within the coffee industry. It's still fairly easy to still spend pennies on a cup of coffee, if you're willing to get off your ass, grind a few beans, and brew a cup. Most people prefer whistling for a dog named Starbucks or shove a pod into a machine to whip up a coffee-like substance fast enough to not be a burden on a FOMO lifestyle.
Caffiene, Nicotine, Preservatives, and Raw White Sugar. . . . powering Hackers since 1967. . .
This. In addition, it seems a safe bet the the sugary, cream-laden concoctions that pass for coffee at Fivebucks negate any possible health benefit of caffeine consumption.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
Perthaps, although coffee is only one source of caffeine.
Coffee is one of the most researched drinks on the planet though, partially because it is drunk so much. Another reason is because back in the 80's everyone assumed it must be bad for you and started a bunch of studies to prove how it is bad for "X,Y, and Z". As it turns out, everything they thought it would cause it ended up helping. Coffee really does have a lot of benefits (and some down sides). Diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson's disease... turns out it can help a lot of things.
If only Superman drank coffee he might have become immune to kryptonite*.
* untested theory
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
You know, this kind of shallow cynicism actually makes you easier to dupe, because it's not evidence-based; it's what-sounds-truthy-based.
This article was published in Nature, which requires a complete disclosure of institutional affiliations and financial conflicts. That doesn't mean the system is perfect, but it's about as good as it gets, especially given that Nature is one of the most prestigious scientific journals in the world. Nature Medicine has an eye-popping 30.357 impact factor, making it the fourth most highly cited medical journal in the world after the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, and Journal of the American Medical Association.
Does it mean you should immediately believe anything that's published in Nature Medicine? No. You should wait until it is cited in a literature review article in one of those top journals before making any health decisions based on it. However as individual papers go, this is as credible as they get.
Researchers have been trying to take caffeine down for decades. Nobody can quite believe that something so enjoyable as coffee isn't bad for you. In fact doctors used to routinely warn their patients off coffee because of all the bad things it would do to them, but in fact when researchers tried to confirm all the things doctors knew about why coffee was bad for you, none of them turned out to be true, with narrow exceptions for certain populations (e.g., coffee doesn't cause ulcers as we used to be told, but if you have an ulcer coffee will make the symptoms worse).
What researchers found were surprising benefits, including what appears to be evidence of reduction in risks for multiple forms of cancer and even a reduction in suicide risk.
Coffee is well on its way to becoming the first evidence-backed superfood.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Strange, you seem so laid back
Giver: prostate is flushed
Receiver: prostate is massaged
End effect: toxins are removed from prostate
Not kidding. Not a troll.
You could switch to pure espresso shots.
Most folks drink stale coffee. Try roasting your own (I use Sweet Maria's for supplies) or going somewhere with a roaster on site who is honest enough to tell you the roast date. It should be from 2 to 10 days ago. Flavor development in coffee is a rancidification process. Like cheese, you want to catch it when it is a little, but not too, rancid.
Bruce Perens.
Ha. To fooey with your own roasting! I hand forge axes from native iron filings patiently gathered by local native tribesman from old railroad ties. I use the axe to cut down first growth Yellow Cedar, strip the bark to make kindling, split the wood (I do use a match, gotta account for modern technology somehow), roast the beans on hot granite rocks and grind them with river stones.
I did go out to WalMart to get a French Press because the natives around here just had to interact with Russians and they were more into vodka than coffee.....
The stuff is just wonderful. Except I'm too sore and tired to do anything else.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Disclaimer:
No Stanford University students were funded by any corporations or industry conglomerates that are tied in any way to the selling of caffeinated products, we may say, in connection to manipulation of data in any of studies for their own gain. Maybe.
And with the right coffee maker (BUNN Velocity Brew), you can brew a whole pot in 3 minutes.
The bean of the coffee makes the thoughts quicken, the pulse increase;
The breath is a warning to others
For he is the Kwikii Mart Haderach!
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --