Food & Wine

The Supplement I Take Three Times a Day

There's an all-natural dietary supplement you can add to your diet today that will protect your heart and brain... help you live longer... and even boost your sex life.

Regular readers know I'm generally a skeptic of "all-natural supplements." Most of these dietary aids are sold on the promise that they provide incredible health benefits... Unfortunately, most of these claims lack any shred of scientific evidence and are mostly empty promises.

This supplement, however, is the real deal.

It offers a host of scientifically validated benefits.

It's delicious. It's cheap. And it’s so good for you, I take it as much as three times a day. The best news is, millions of Americans can do the same.

What's the supplement I'm talking about?

Coffee.

According to a July 2015 Gallup poll, 64% of Americans drink at least one cup per day. Some retailer estimates put that number even higher. That doesn't surprise us, since the average American spends almost $1,100 on coffee every year... and that's just what folks buy out (at places like Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts), and doesn't factor in what they brew at home.

Retirement Millionaire subscribers know about my love affair with coffee. Dozens of chemical compounds within coffee provide a host of health benefits, many of which I've written about over the years. Coffee's benefits come from three main functions:

  • It fights inflammation. Coffee is packed with antioxidants (caffeine is one of them) that soothe inflammation. Inflammation damages cells in your body, which can lead to cancer and other diseases.
  • It may protect DNA directly. Damaged DNA can start dividing without end, leading to tumors. The exact way it happens still isn't clear, but some research suggests coffee stimulates an enzyme that fights DNA-damaging toxins.
  • Caffeine blocks adenosine receptors. Adenosine is a neurotransmitter in our brains that sends signals to our body. Its primary role is to signal when we need sleep. This is why coffee keeps us awake (and decaf doesn't).

Today, we're giving you the top 10 reasons to indulge in a few cups of coffee every day.

111215-RMD-Coffee

1) Coffee fights ED. About 20% of American men experience some form of erectile dysfunction (ED). The percentages increase with age and certain illnesses like diabetes. But a study from earlier this spring by the University of Texas Health Science Center found that men who drank two to three cups of coffee per day had a 42% lower risk for ED compared with men who drank no coffee.

2) Coffee protects your liver. This year, the World Cancer Research Fund added coffee to its list of ways to protect yourself from liver cancer, the sixth-most common cancer in the world. Each cup of coffee consumed cuts your risk by 14%, according to a report that included an analysis of 8.2 million people. The average best response came from two cups per day.

3) Coffee lowers your risk of stroke. In 2011, the American Journal of Epidemiology featured an analysis of almost a half-million people. It showed a correlation between increased coffee consumption and lower risk of stroke. Other studies, like the 2009 Nurses Study from the journal Circulation, have shown that a single cup of coffee per day reduces a woman's risk of stroke by as much as 20%, compared with those who do not drink coffee.

4) Coffee alleviates migraines. Caffeine reduces inflammation, which makes it a good way to combat headaches (which can occur from inflamed blood vessels). Many migraine medications include caffeine because it helps the pain relievers work better for this reason.

It's not entirely clear, but caffeine might also help migraines because it blocks adenosine receptors. The research on the role of these receptors in migraine pain is still ongoing, but caffeine's role in blocking adenosine is a possible key.

5) Coffee drinkers have lower rates of cardiovascular disease. In a 2014 analysis from Circulation, researchers looked through 36 published studies on cardiovascular disease and coffee consumption. Researchers found a positive correlation between drinking three to five cups of coffee per day and a lowered risk of cardiovascular disease. This makes sense given coffee's ability to reduce inflammation, which leads to damage in your blood vessels.

6) Coffee helps protect your skin. A 2012 study from Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital found that women who drank at least three cups of coffee a day had a lower risk of developing skin cancer than women who drank just one cup a month.

7) Coffee also protects your colon. In recent studies, including one published this summer in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, patients recovering from colon cancer recovered faster and had fewer cases of relapse if they drank more coffee. And a few studies, including one presented at the American Association for Cancer Research in 2014, showed that the risk of getting colorectal cancer dropped with each cup of coffee consumed, up to three cups.

8) Coffee calms your stomach. A 2010 study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry showed that roasting coffee produces a compound called N-methylpyridinium (NMP). Although researchers don't understand exactly how it works, they found NMP lowers acid secretion in the stomach. The darker the roast, the more beneficial coffee is for stomachs and heartburn.

9) Coffee protects our brains. Several studies published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease point to coffee consumption as a way to protect the brain from dementia. One of the studies, a Finnish one done in 2009, measured people's coffee drinking and brain function in midlife (ages 45 to 58). Then the researchers followed up about 21 years later to compare coffee habits with rates of dementia. People who drank coffee in middle age had lower rates of developing dementia later in life.

10) Coffee improves longevity. Several studies on coffee focus on all-cause mortality. All-cause mortality means the number of participants who die during the study period no matter the cause. In one 2014 analysis from the American Journal of Epidemiology, people who drank four cups a day had 16% lower mortality rates from all causes compared with people who drank fewer cups or no coffee at all. Coffee's many benefits pay off in our overall health.

These are just a few reasons to enjoy your favorite beverage. But as we warned in our sleep issue, too much caffeine late in the day can lead to insomnia. This is because caffeine interferes with our internal clocks – something called our circadian rhythm. To get all the benefits of coffee without losing sleep, do what I do and stop drinking caffeinated beverages after 2 p.m.

What We're Reading...

  • If you're looking to try a new coffee, try reading Consumer Reports. You can access the full coffee review if you're a subscriber, or enjoy their coffee-buying guide for free, here.