There was a piece in the news not long ago saying that coffee can adversely affect a woman's chance of miscarrying up to two years before conception. However, when I was trying to find this article recently, I couldn't. I gave up coffee on the back of that, because we're hoping to have kids at some point soon. I love coffee, though. The pros - it makes you feel happpppyyyyy. For me, the cons - too much can make you feel nervy, twitchy, and can give you a headache.
Hmm, you could try a "grain coffee", the ones made from roasted barley tend to be nice.
My bf and I actually only have these because we can't tolerate caffine right now, but I think I am going ot stick with it, perhaps decaffinated is ok, but I haven't read anything good about caffine and it reduces the absorbsion of so many vitamins and minerals.
One big con is the fact that so many coffee growers are using conditions similar to sweatshops. According to Global Exchange:
Many small coffee farmers receive prices for their coffee that are less than the costs of production, forcing them into a cycle of poverty and debt.
And Oxfam says:
Many developing nations depend on coffee as their chief export, and their entire economies are collapsing with the market as a result of plummeting coffee prices. Coffee is grown in more than 50 countries around the globe. Taking inflation into account, families are earning less for their product than their ancestors did 100 years ago!
Personally, while I love the smell of coffee, I can't abide what it does to me (makes me jittery, headachey, queasy, and generally unhappy), but if you are a coffee drinker, you could do worse than check out all your Fair Trade options.
I really appreciate all of the advice and information you've given me in the past week or so. you're like a search engine, only more friendly and helpful (and with more delicious recipe ideas). :)
I think everybody's allowed a vice. I drink a cup of coffee every morning and not only does it motivate me to get my ass moving but it also helps me with my social anxiety. I do buy fair trade organic beans and grind/brew them myself. I'd have to probably equate drinking folgers every morning with drinking cyanide. As far as your heart and liver are concerned, it's way better for you than some other stimulants, like yerba mate. Basically anything highly tannic (coffee, tea, mate) shouldn't be consumed with meals because tannins impair absorption, but I see nothing wrong with moderate usage. It usually comes down to preference... a lot of people don't like the taste, or the way the farmers are treated, or they react very strongly to the caffeine content if they're not used to it.
Oh, what's the problem with yerba mate? I have had it a few times, but it's not a regular indulgence of mine. I'd be interested in any info you can give me on that.
coffee, on average, has about .32% caffeine. Yerba mate has about 1.5%. That's over 4 times as much in the same cup, so if you get nervous and jittery from coffee, mate will probably make you feel physically ill. It's also got really high tannin content (which is what makes coffee, tea, mate, etc) bitter, and a lot of people find mate especially offensively so. Its closest relatives are all extremely toxic or at least purgative. It's definately something that if you want to start using it you have to train you body to accept it, and if you eat a lot of food with it you probably won't keep it down very long. The best way to take it is when you need a lot of physical energy with a minimum intake of food. Because caffeine (supposedly) curbs hunger (i've found the opposite to be true) and tannins stimulate the body to push everything through it without trying to digest it too well, it also has potential to be damaging. A lot of the south american natives who use it have built up resistence to it over their entire lives, so they've
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Ah. The couple of times I've had it, I didn't feel the jitteriness or queasiness I got from coffee, but I did feel like I was jet-fuelled. I had it before breakfast, and spent the entire day being insanely productive and energetic. I did have problems sleeping (I always have problems sleeping, but this was worse).
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My justification is that coffee is technically a bean, and therefore, good for you *nods*
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My bf and I actually only have these because we can't tolerate caffine right now, but I think I am going ot stick with it, perhaps decaffinated is ok, but I haven't read anything good about caffine and it reduces the absorbsion of so many vitamins and minerals.
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Many small coffee farmers receive prices for their coffee that are less than the costs of production, forcing them into a cycle of poverty and debt.
And Oxfam says:
Many developing nations depend on coffee as their chief export, and their entire economies are collapsing with the market as a result of plummeting coffee prices. Coffee is grown in more than 50 countries around the globe. Taking inflation into account, families are earning less for their product than their ancestors did 100 years ago!
Personally, while I love the smell of coffee, I can't abide what it does to me (makes me jittery, headachey, queasy, and generally unhappy), but if you are a coffee drinker, you could do worse than check out all your Fair Trade options.
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