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[Toxic Waist] [Coffee, tea and heart disease: cause or cure]
Getting a 'caffeine fix' from a cup of coffee or tea
is a daily ritual for many of us.
Caffeine is a chemical that can stimulate the heart and the brain.
[Dr. Derrick Cutting, General Practitioner]
In large quantities, it can cause
palpitations and insomnia.
It's also addictive, as caffeine addicts know from
the withdrawal headaches they get if they abstain for awhile.
For a long time, people thought there might be a link
between drinking coffee and coronary heart disease.
Indeed, Scandinavian-style boiled coffee can cause
a significant rise in blood cholesterol levels.
When you boil coffee, it releases two fatty substances--
lipids--called cafestol and kahweol.
It is these fatty substances that raise your LDL cholesterol.
Fortunately for most coffee drinkers, these lipids are found mostly in boiled coffee
and cafetiere coffee, not in instant coffee or the filter coffee that many people drink.
That's down to the paper filter that you use.
It strains out the lipids so they don't get into your mug.
As for tea, research is inconclusive.
One study done in a laboratory setting showed that
drinking black tea improved blood flow to the heart.
And there have been claims that because tea contains micronutrients--
called flavonoid antioxidants-- there may be benefits in the areas of
allergy, viruses, and cancer, as well as cardiovascular health.
But the relevance of these claims in every-day life--
outside the laboratory--remains uncertain.
Now, don't worry if you live in a hard water area
and get lime scale in your kettle.
Studies have shown that people who drink water with increased amounts of
calcium carbonate have slightly lower rates of heart disease.
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