Coffee and Your Health

Coffee may taste good and get you going in the morning, but what will it do for your health?

A growing body of research shows that coffee drinkers, compared to nondrinkers, are:

• less likely to have type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and dementia
• have fewer cases of certain cancers, heart rhythm problems, and strokes

“There is certainly much more good news than bad news, in terms of coffee and health,” says Frank Hu, MD, MPH, PhD, nutrition and epidemiology professor at the Harvard School of Public Health.

But (you knew there would be a “but,” didn’t you?) coffee isn't proven to prevent those conditions.

How to choose a good coffee

Seeking out the best coffee beans can be a labour of love and what you look for is very much dependant on your own personal taste.

If the only coffee you ever buy is from your local supermarket, you probably don’t realise the great variety of wonderful tasting coffees that are out there waiting to tickle your taste buds - if you can find them.

One thing is certain – once you have experienced the aroma, flavour and satisfaction of a properly brewed, high quality cup of freshly roasted and ground coffee - you will be well and truly hooked. 

So how do we go about choosing good coffee beans?

Top 5 Starbucks Secrets

1. Starbucks Size Secret

Starbucks has more sizes than what is on the menu. The secret is they actually have a size called a short that is only 8 oz. The short size appears on the menu as a kid’s size but you can actually order any drink in this size. So next time you don’t need a full 12 oz cup of coffee and want to save a little cash just say, “Give me the secret size.” Either that or you can just ask for the short.

2. Starbucks Coffee Secret

When you go to Starbucks you will notice that they have either the Pike Place or the Bold coffee of the day already brewed. Many times you may not prefer the two coffees they are offering but you feel like you don’t have a choice in the matter. The secret is you actually do! They will brew you a pour over of any coffee that they carry in whole bean. So next time you don’t want Pikes Place or Gold Coast just ask for a pour over of your favorite coffee and they will oblige.

Bonus Coffee Secret

This one is for the whole bean coffee buyers. If you buy coffee by the lb but want to try more than one to find your favorite Starbucks whole bean coffee you don’t have to buy 5 pounds to figure that out. The secret is you can actually select 1/2 or 1/4 pounds that add up to 1 pound and get it for the variety 1 lb price.