Get Your Fiber From Coffee

Ummm! I love the smell of coffee wafting through the morning-time hallways as dreary-eyed employees mumble and bump their way zombie-like through the labs and offices. After a couple cups, they're wide-eyed and ready to make millions for the company again. One "perky" fellow I know practically lives on the stuff. A self-confessed "coffee snob," he drinks this super-concentrated stuff called "cold extract coffee" which is probably the closest thing to legal speed a person could find. Juan Valdez and his mule Conchita must be so proud!

Sadly, I cannot share in this passion, as I find the taste too bitter, even with loads of sugar and milk. My caffeine intake is primarily Pepsi. A shame, since I live in the Great Northwest where coffee rules supreme and every street corner seems to have an espresso kiosk. If the Northwest could have a statue of it's patron god, it would surely be a gigantic figure of Kurt Cobain holding an over-sized coffee bean, in Seattle, of course. Dancing fountains of Java would shoot out of golden espresso nozzles into crystal coffee pots.

Sure, coffee and its caffeine content can have some potential bad side effects, like keeping you up at night, mild hypertension, or shaking hands, but all the medical studies have pointed to far more beneficial aspects, mostly due to the caffeine and antioxidant content. This wondrous list of studied effects include: lower risk of diabetes, Parkinson's, liver cirrhosis, colon cancer, and even cavities. Your mood is elevated, thus an aid against depression. By drinking it, you can treat headaches, manage asthma, increase your energy level, and improve insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism.

A recent study has added a new, beneficial side effect: Fiber!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070226095451.htm

Yes, all you mocha drinkers, now you can sip away (or gulp if you dare) as much as your little nerves can take, because brewed coffee has been found to have more fiber per volume than other common drinks, including wine or even orange juice (somehow I don't think Metamucil was compared), at 1.8 grams per cup. I did a little math. The recommended daily allowance of fiber for most adult men is 38 grams. For most adult women it is 25 grams. That means that a cup of coffee contains 4.7% or 7.2% of your daily allowance, that's 21 cups for men or 14 cups for women a day to reach 100%.

So drink up, me hardies, and give a toast of the ol' bean to your health! Even your colon will thank you!