I'll Drink to That © Dr. Eileen Silva 2006

If you’re like me, you’ve got good intentions about eating right and drinking healthy beverages. After all, we are now the most informed consumers on the planet about what’s hip and what’s not.

You’ve probably heard the primary negatives about caffeine: it keeps you up, it elevates blood pressure, and it interferes with sleep . . .

Well, listen up, coffee lovers, I have great news for you! According to a recent US News and World Report, not only is coffee good for you, but researchers have actually refuted those aforementioned dreaded negatives. If you email me (eileen@eileensilva.com), then I will send you the complete article.

Caffeine doesn’t over-stimulate a system that has had some caffeine exposure; it simply enhances mental acumen. One of the most important things you can ever do for your brainpower is to keep thinking. Use it or lose it!

A large study done at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine has dispelled the blood pressure rumor. I had actually wondered about it myself since mine has never reported any elevation. At the age of 58, after drinking two mugs of black coffee, I had my blood pressure tested: 160/63. I thought that maybe I was the exception to the rule, but apparently not. Of course, I do a lot of ongoing liver and circulatory cleansing.

As for interfering with sleep, there is definitely a tie-in for those who aren’t used to having caffeine late in the day, but if you’re used to it, there is probably no harm done there.

Now for the shocker of them all! The antioxidants in coffee are extremely helpful in fighting disease and the aging process. If you enjoy a reasonable amount of caffeine, you will enjoy a metabolic enhancement as well as improved elimination.

Black coffee is also a treat that comes with Zero calories. A tip for those of you who still use sugar and cream, it takes 12 days or less to break that habit, so simply force yourself to take it black for 12 days, and you will kick the habit. If you delete just two cups of coffee a day with 2 teaspoons of sugar and a teaspoon of cream, you will save 48,180 calories in a year’s time: a whopping a 13 ½ pounds! Isn’t that an improvement worth working for?

There you have it! The new verdict just in . . . Coffee has now been exonerated from the guilt list and is actually now revered as a health food. I don’t know about you, but I’ll drink to that!