Can Your Morning Coffee Prevent Skin Cancer

Did you know that men are more likely than women to get skin cancer? A lot of people find this surprising, but it’s true.

You can help protect your skin from cancer by doing something you already do most mornings… if you’re a coffee-drinker, that is. The idea that the caffeine in your morning coffee might help protect your from skin cancer isn’t a new one. Now, a new study gives more weight to this theory.

Instead of looking for correlations between coffee drinking and skin cancer, researchers from the University of Washington looked at how caffeine affects skin cells exposed to ultra violet light. What they found was very interesting.

When a cell became damaged by the UV radiation, the caffeine interferes with certain proteins within the cell. The caffeine makes the cell self-destruct, which means that it can’t multiply into a cancerous strain. That’s good. Even better, caffeine doesn’t affect undamaged cells.

Thus far the benefit from drinking coffee is measurable, but small. It is one less reason to feel guilty about your coffee habit, but not a good reason to drink more coffee. Being a regular coffee-drinker also doesn’t mean that you can be careless about sun protection… you should still avoid sunburns.

The real promise of the research is for topical use of caffeine to protect your skin. So far animal studies are proving exciting. Topical applications of caffeine reduce skin cancer incidence by up to 72% in mice. If the human trials go well, it won’t be long before you can buy sunscreen with caffeine in it. The caffeine will help prevent sunburns and help protect your skin cells from sun damage, reducing overall risks of skin cancer. Not too bad.

Stay well,

Heather Robwell

Two New Ways to Lower Your Stroke Risk

Nearly three quarters of a million people will suffer a stroke this year. After heart disease and cancer, stroke is the third leading cause of death among Americans. If you survive a stroke, there’s a good chance you’ll experience a long-term disability as a result. Strokes can affect speech and movement, even memory.

Fortunately you can take steps to improve your circulatory health and protect your brain.

Recent research has uncovered two all natural, everyday remedies that you can use to reduce your risk of stroke.

The first is B vitamins. In Canada, researchers studying heart disease found that patients taking high amounts of vitamins B6 and B12 and folic acid to control their homocysteine levels also reduced their risk of stroke.

In another study, researchers found that patients who had suffered with one stroke reduced their risk of second stroke when they supplemented with these B vitamins.

In addition to B vitamins, coffee and tea may also help protect your from a stroke. In various studies examining the effects of coffee and tea consumption on stroke risks, researchers have found a clear link between the two beverages and a lower risk of stroke.

In one study, people who drank the most coffee had almost half the risk of stroke as those who drank the least. In another, regular coffee and tea drinkers lowered their risk of stroke by almost 20%. Researchers suspect that the antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds in coffee and tea may be what provide the benefit.

You can easily apply these two strategies in your life to help protect yourself from a stroke. Simply begin taking a vitamin B-complex each day. I find it’s best to take B vitamins after eating—otherwise they can make you queasy. And whether you like coffee or tea—brew up your favorite beverage and enjoy!

Stay well,
Danny Wallace

An Easy Way to Lower Your Risk of Stroke

Men who smoke are at high risk of heart disease and stroke. Quitting smoking is obviously the best way to lower your risk. Quitting smoking is the big goal, but there are other things you can do to lower your risk while you're working on that goal.

Finnish researchers recently discovered by accident that drinking coffee can help. The researchers were actually studying diet and cancer in male smokers. Part of the study was tracking major health events, including stroke. They discovered that men who drank eight cups of coffee a day were 23% less likely to have a stroke.

Tea is even better than coffee. Men who drank just two cups of tea a day lowered stroke risks by 21%.

Most strokes are due to hardened arteries—a blockage in the arteries forms cutting off blood to your brain. Researchers believe that coffee and tea both help because they have antioxidants that help reduce and prevent hardening of the arteries.

For some people coffee can make other existing health problems worse, so talk to your doctor before you begin drinking a lot more coffee. Tea, on the other hand, is free from side effects and provides a number of health benefits as well… so think about making tea a new daily habit.

Stay well,
Danny Wallace

Guilt-Free Coffee in the Morning

Do you enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning? If not, maybe you should. A recent study conducted by French researchers found that coffee protects the cognitive ability of women as they age.

Women who drink at least three cups of coffee each day are 30 percent less likely to develop memory problems by the time they are 65 than women who drink one cup or less. By the time a woman reaches 80, those three cups of java will have lowered her risks by 70 percent compared to women who don't drink coffee.

The researchers believe that the protective effect comes from a combination of factors. First, caffeine is a brain stimulant, which may help keep the brain functioning better. Second, coffee is rich in micronutrients. Finally, coffee also helps prevent the build up of the plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Now there are bound to be puritans out there who object to coffee based on the fact that it is a stimulant. It's also addictive—just ask any coffee lover how her head feels two hours into a coffee-free morning.

However, given its protective affects—this study is not the first lauding coffee for its health benefits—I say drink up.

A 70% reduction in dementia risks is a pretty powerful argument for savoring a first, second, and third cup of coffee in the morning.

Stay healthy,
Heather Robwell