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The Health Benefits of Coffee
A Simple Cup of Coffee
A simple cup of coffee is a powerful thing! It can mend fences and save friendships. They say that the pen is mightier than the sword, but it could be that a simple cup of coffee is more powerful than both of them put together.
It had been a tough week in the neighborhood. It was cold, and the kids had been underfoot indoors at one house or the other all week. My neighbor and I had been close friends for several years, but our relationship had gotten seriously strained over this past week. She had called me twice to complain about how my Bobby was tormenting her Shawn. She had sent him home, too, more than twice.
Now, the boys played at my house as often as they played at her house, and I was fully aware of the fact that her Shawn wasn't the little darling that she thought he was. Our relationship and our friendship were nearing the breaking point; there really wasn't much doubt about it.
On Thursday morning, I took the boys to the "Mother's Day Out" program at a nearby local church for the morning. It was my neighbor's turn to drive, but I offered to run the "taxi" service and she accepted.
When I returned from dropping the boys off, I looked across the street at my neighbor's house, and it had the deserted look that most homes have during midwinter. In fact, it looked sad. I looked at the pile of laundry that was waiting for my attention. I looked at the as-yet-unmade beds. Then I looked at my coffee maker and made the decision. I picked up the phone and called my neighbor.
I said, "I know we both have a long list of things that we need to do while the little darlings are gone, but how about coming over for a cup of coffee?" She was there almost before I had time to hang up the phone. We drank a cup of coffee, and we talked about how we were both so tired of being cooped up with rowdy kids. We laughed and we cried, and we mended our broken fences and saved our friendship -- all over one simple cup of coffee.
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Decaf Coffee
Coffee Mugs
I love my coffee mug! I use it everyday. There isn't anything particularly fancy or special about my coffee mug, except that is my coffee mug and it holds enough coffee to actually do some good, unlike those itty bitty cups with the tiny little handles that my wife prefers. I hate those cups. My fingers get stuck in the handles and they don't hold enough coffee.
Not that I have ever paid a lot of attention to my coffee mug. It is just there every morning. I fill it up with coffee and carry it around with me from room to room as I prepare to go to work, or it sits within easy reach as I read my newspaper. It keeps the coffee hot for awhile, and I don't have to refill it but just occasionally.
Anyway, I got to thinking about the coffee mug and wondered who thought up the perfect design. I never did find out who the inventor of the coffee mug was, but it seems that the coffee mug is actually a "take-off" of the old beer stein. When you think about the two designs, they are certainly similar.
Coffee mugs are man-sized. The smallest ones hold 12 ounces, and there are coffee mugs that hold as much as 20 ounces. Coffee mugs have also been modernized. Old coffee mugs were either made of tin or ceramic. Today, there are plastic and stainless steel coffee mugs, and coffee mugs that are insulated. There are coffee mugs that are made for travel, too. There is a top that prevents the coffee from spilling even when the coffee mug is tipped over. That sounds like a good idea.
Maybe I'll go buy one that is insulted and made of space-age plastic with a top that prevents spills. |
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Coffee Mugs
How Coffee Affects the Body
It all depends on what "study" you choose to believe whether coffee (caffeine) is a good thing for the body or pure poison. Personally, I've decided to believe those "studies" that say coffee is a good thing…a VERY good thing.
I like coffee…no, that isn't exactly accurate….I LOVE my coffee!
The fact is that there is caffeine in a lot of things other than coffee. There is caffeine in tea, and there is caffeine in many sodas as well as in chocolate….and I am sure not going to give up chocolate! So just giving up coffee won't mean that you have given up caffeine. Caffeine is actually the only active ingredient in coffee. There are no calories and no carbohydrates in a cup of black coffee.
Caffeine is a stimulant. There isn't much doubt about that one. If you have a cup of coffee right before bed, you will certainly have difficulty falling asleep -- at least that is true for most people. A cup of coffee first thing in the morning certainly wakes you up and gets you going! That afternoon cup of coffee picks you up.
Coffee is said to be addictive, and maybe that is true. People who suddenly stop their usual daily intake of caffeine in whatever form will suffer from withdrawal symptoms. Headache is the most common symptom of caffeine withdrawal, but caffeine withdrawal can also put a big dent in your sweet disposition. People who are withdrawing from caffeine are just plain grouchy.
The caffeine in coffee has both positive and negative effects on the human body. The positive effects are that it relieves boredom, decreases depression, increases alertness, increases physical stamina, and increases performance on boring or repetitive tasks. The negative effects of caffeine on the human body are that it increases nervousness, affects sleep, and increases jaw tension.
Related Topics: Coffee and Health,
Organic Coffee, Coffee with Chicory
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