Coffee and health

Coffee and tea have been consumed for hundreds of years and have become an important part of cultural traditions and social life. 

Health effects

• Consumption of 3 to 5 standard cups daily is associated with a reduced risk of several chronic diseases.

               A standard cup defined as 240 ml.  

• It does not increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancers.

• It increases wakefulness and work productivity. 

• It improves energy balance by reducing appetite and increasing the basal metabolic rate 

• Repeated intake during the day  were associated with slightly less long-term weight gain

• A modest beneficial effect on body fatness

     Moderate consumption can be part of a healthy lifestyle.

      You cannot recommend coffee intake for  

      disease prevention. There is no evidence 

A standard coffee mug (240 ml)
Not more than 5 mugs/day

     

  Adverse effects

  High caffeine intake (more than 5 cups) can have various 

  adverse effects,  

• Consumption later in the day can increase sleep latency and reduce the quality of sleep

• Caffeinated beverages that are high in calories, such as soft drinks and energy drinks and coffee or tea with added sugar, may lead to excess weight gain.

•  Caffeine can induce anxiety in persons with high anxiety or bipolar disorders. , 

.

       Adverse effects in pregnancy

• Caffeine readily passes the placenta

• High caffeine intake is associated with lower birth weight

• There is a risk of pregnancy loss .

 A pregnant lady should avoid coffee intake as far as possible, 

Pure ghee as a cooking oil

The profile of pure ghee:

Saturated fats: 65%

Monounsaturated fats; 32%

Polyunsaturated:
PUFA -6     2% (omega -6)
PUFA -3     1%  (omega -3)


 PUFA-6 and PUFA -3 in the cooking oil should be in the ratio of 6;1 or less


There are 4 such cooking oils;

Mustard

coconut

pure ghee

soybean

You can choose any of them





We are not familiar with the idea of pure ghee as a cooking medium.But you can try it

Advantages:

Excellent flavor 

Foods cooked have long shelf life.

Fatty acids in ghee are short and medium chain which are not stored as fats but used for energy production

It resists oxidation during frying, and does not generate free radicals.
Oils with high PUFA -6 (unsaturated oils) are not resistant to oxidation. On prolonged / repeated heating they liberate free radicals which are toxic.(This does not happen with pure ghee.)

What about cholesterol?

100 g of ghee has 300 mg of cholesterol.

100 g is 20 teaspoon. Do we eat 20 spoons of ghee every day? We eat about 2 spoons which has only 30 mg of cholesterol.

There are 3 options:

If you do the cooking in ghee then it should  be 5 teaspoon per person daily. If you have 4 members in the family, then it will be 20 spoons for the family. The housewife should take out 20 teaspoon of ghee in a vessel and the cooking from breakfast to dinner should be within this limit. 

If you do not like this idea, then use ghee for giving Tadka (seasoning) while preparing dal,dal khichdi, upma  

                

Or at least, you can have a  teaspoon of ghee on your rice. 

Ghee is not known in the West. They have margarine (trans fat) which has adverse health effects.

In India, pure ghee is prepared at home from ancient times.
It is a meticulous and elaborate process. Many housewives are unable or not interested in this.They think it is time consuming

The common man has aversion to eat ghee, because it has cholesterol. However one can have up to 150 mg of cholesterol per day. Zero cholesterol diet is not ideal, even for a heart patient.

Eating 1 -2 teaspoons of ghee is healthy.