There are clearly worse beverages than coffee to consume. It is my opinion that any soda, diet or regular is worse than coffee.

Fruit juice is also worse due to the high fructose content. So if you are drinking fruit juice or soda, stop those first.

Coffee and caffeine can also interfere with your body's ability to absorb water and can cause intracellular dehydration.

I have found that Emotional Freedom Technique has been enormously beneficial for people to stop the coffee cravings.

As I have said previously:

Caffeine is the most widely used drug in the world. While I believe that coffee and caffeine are far less dangerous than fruit juice or soda, it is still wise to limit, and if possible, eliminate its use.

This is becoming increasingly clear for women, as coffee should NEVER be consumed during pregnancy. It also appears that coffee consumption is associated with increased estrogen levels, which means an increase for breast and endometrial cancer.

Coffee has been previously associated with increased risk of stroke and rheumatoid arthritis.

One can use a product called Water Joe that is basically bottled water with caffeine added to help you wean off of the coffee. If you stop coffee cold turkey you will likely develop a severe headache from going through caffeine withdrawal.

If you simply MUST drink coffee here are a few tips to help reduce the chances of harmful effects:

• Use organic coffee - Coffee is a heavily sprayed crop, so drinking organic coffee might reduce or eliminate the exposure to toxic herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers. The only drawback is that the countries where coffee is produced probably have less control and monitoring for compliance to organic practices. You will also be helping to protect the health of the people working in the coffee fields, as you will be helping to reduce their toxic exposure as well.

• "Swiss Water Process" decaf - If you are going to drink decaffeinated coffee, be sure that it is one that uses a non-chemical based method of decaffeination. The "Swiss Water Process" is a patented method and is the best choice. Most of the major brands are chemically decaffeinated, even if it says "Naturally Decaffeinated" right on the container. If you are unsure of the methods, contact the manufacturer.

• Avoid sugar and/or milk - These are actually much worse for you than the coffee itself. Don't compound the detrimental health effects by adding milk or sugar to your coffee.

• Unbleached filters - If you use a "drip" coffee maker, be sure to use non-bleached filters. The bright white ones, which most people use, are chlorine bleached and some of this chlorine will be extracted from the filter during the brewing process.

From Nancy Appleton's Book, Lick the Sugar Habit

A stimulant, caffeine can actually increase the amount of sugar in the bloodstream. When ingested, caffeine stimulates the adrenal glands, which release adrenaline-like substances called cat echolamines. These catecholamines cause the heart to pump harder than normal and the liver to release stored sugar, which raises the blood sugar level. In turn, the pancreas secretes insulin to bring the level down to normal. This process, explained in Chapter 4, can result in the eventual exhaustion of the pancreas.

This release of sugar causes the "lift" most people associate with caffeine, but because caffeine also throws the body chemistry out of balance, the lift is short-lived. The rush of insulin from the pancreas frequently goes so far beyond restoring normality that the sugar level falls below normal, causing extreme fatigue and other hypoglycemic symptoms. It may be hours before the body's chemistry returns to normal, and if another cup of coffee or tea has been ingested, the cycle of imbalance will continue.

Caffeine is implicated in a number of other problems as well. There is a possible connection between caffeine intake and birth defects, benign breast lumps, and irregular heartbeat. As caffeine stimulates the central nervous system, it has also been linked to insomnia, nervousness, and anxiety. It is also a cardiac muscle stimulant, a diuretic, and a stimulant of gastric acid secretion in the stomach. In 1980, the FDA advised pregnant women to avoid or minimize the consumption of products containing caffeine.

Noted biochemist Jeffrey Bland, Ph.D., can't say enough nasty things about coffee. His studies show, among other things, that caffeine elevates cholesterol levels in the blood. Bland also explains that the reason for the frequency of ulcers in coffee drinkers is that coffee stimulates the secretion of gastric juices.

Caffeine isn't the only element in coffee that plays havoc with the body. A study detailed. in the Tufts University Diet and Nutrition Letter shows that coffee can inhibit iron absorption by 39 percent, or as much as 87 percent when coffee or tea is consumed with or up to one hour after a meal. (Drinking coffee or tea before the meal did not have the same effect.)

One of the authors of the study, Dr. James D. Cook, claims that it isn't the caffeine that interferes with iron absorption but a family of binding substances called polyphenols (tannic acid), which are found in coffee and tea. This group of chemicals strong arms iron and escorts it out of the body.

Since decaffeinated coffee also contains polyphenols, it too carries off needed iron.14 Herbal tea, which is not believed to prevent iron absorption, is a good alternative for those who want to give up coffee and regular forms of tea.

In spite of caffeine's implication in heart disease, gastritis, heartburn, calcium secretion, increased stomach acid and stomach discomfort, cystic breast conditions, and nervousness and anxiety, the public continues to consume mountains of coffee beans, tea leaves, and cacao nuts. Dr. Eyi Takaahushi, of the Tohoku University School of Medicine, has found a correlation between the amount of coffee a country consumes and the number of deaths from cancer of the prostate.

Other data indicate that it is the sugar used in coffee, rather than the coffee itself, that is the cause of prostate cancer. A definite correlation was also found between sugar consumption and cancer of the breast, ovaries, intestine, and rectum.

From Lick the Sugar Habit by Nancy Appleton (http://www.nancyappleton.com/)

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Coffee May Damage Blood Vessels