The debate continues...........

Physiological effects of caffeine on the body are somewhat understood and well documented. The main physiological effect of caffeine appears to be as a stimulant of the central nervous system and most of the effects observed are behavioral in nature. Caffeine is associated with an increase in intellectual activity, but this seems to be significant only when the individual is fatigued or bored. Caffeine has also been linked with sleeping problems in many tests and despite the evidence, the actual effects of caffeine on sleep varies from person to person depending on actual use.

Caffeine also has an effect on the cardiovascular system by relaxation of the smooth muscles of blood vessels and an increase in heart output. However, the observed increase in blood pressure disappeared after repeated ingestion of caffeine (250 mg. 3 times a day for 7 days). The reasons for this adaptive process are not clear. Caffeine has been proven to increase gastric acid secretion, therefore is a preferred after-meal beverage. Although there is no clear evidence to link excessive coffee consumption with peptic ulcers, coffee (caffeine) ingestion is clearly undesirable for ulcerated persons. Persons with ulcers should avoid gastric acids in their stomachs.

Pregnant Women should reduce the intake of coffee, tea, soda or any caffeinated beverage to moderate amounts throughout their pregnancy. Caffeine intake in moderation is believed to be safe during pregnancy, according to information from the US Food and Drug Administration and the American Medical Association.

Increase in cholesterol levels. In 1991, caffeine was blamed by a Swedish study as contributing to the increase of cholesterol levels. In 1994, this report was discredited as confusing coffee lipids with cholesterol contributing agents. Decaffeinated coffees were more recently linked to increases in cholesterol. This study was later proven conflicting and doubtful. Another study later showed caffeine contributing to the decrease in cholesterol, this is also doubtful.

Cancer In 1981, a Harvard research linked coffee to pancreatic cancer. At least seven major studies failed to confirm this link. The original researchers retracted their findings five years later. Similar scares linking coffee to breast cancer have been discarded by later studies. A Harvard study of 121,700 nurses found no risk of breast cancer associated to coffee. The study revealed fewer nurses with breast cancer among those drinking coffee than nurses who did not. [It must be noted here that this particular study did NOT conclusively establish the claim that drinking coffee reduces breast cancer.] The connection between coffee and cancer was seared into the American health psyche with another cancer study in 1981, when a study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine concluded that “coffee use might account for a substantial proportion of the cases of [pancreatic cancer] in the US.” As for Cancer studies since 1981 for cancers of the bladder, breast, colon, lung, or prostate, “there’s no good evidence that coffee has any role in their development,” says John Welsburger of the American Health Foundation.

Caffeine May Prevent Skin Cancer -- Caffeine may protect against a common form of skin cancer. Mouse studies suggest that caffeine might prevent youthful sunburns from causing tumors in older age. "We may have found a safe and effective way of preventing skin cancer," says study leader Allan H. Conney, PhD, director of the laboratory for cancer research at Rutgers University College of Pharmacy. The study, reported in the current early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, used caffeine applied directly to the skin. The effect on mice exposed to ultraviolet radiation was dramatic. Treatment with caffeine reduced cancerous tumors by 72%. It reduced noncancerous tumors by 44%. "What needs to be done now is a clinical research study to see if caffeine or [other] tea extracts can prevent cancer in humans," Conney tells WebMD. "We are very interested in looking in humans to see whether caffeine can have a protective effect in people who have already had squamous-cell carcinomas removed. These people are at high risk of having additional skin cancers." The treatment would prevent squamous-cell carcinoma. These common skin cancers often appear in older people who spent too much time in the sun in their youth. If caught in time, surgery is nearly always successful. The caffeine study does not address the more serious issue of melanoma, the most dangerous kind of skin cancer. read more........

The coffee controversy has been continuing for centuries! Of course the science we use to determine the dangers of caffeine today was not available when our nation was young and yet.....coffee still received a negative welcome in society having nothing to do with health! The first controversy dates back to the introduction of coffee into Europe. Pope Clement VIII was asked by the Roman clergy to ban the brew because it was the "Devil's drink". Well, this was a retaliation move for the Islam banning wine as a "Demonic drink". Fortunately, the Pope liked the coffee so much he blessed it, converting it into a Christian beverage. Historians claim that coffee houses drew men from their homes making lonely wives who were already banned from coffee houses understandably angry at the beverage.