Another post about coffee - Day 56 of running streak, Day 53 of Sugar Free Challenge*

I really, really love coffee.  I started drinking it when I was 22-23 and I worked in a building with no heat.  I drank it black.  It was Maxwell House, or Folger's or some other dreck.  But it kept me warm.

I drank it black until the delicious but terrible for you flavored creamers came out.  Damn, that stuff tastes good.  I didn't even think about the fact that it doesn't have to be refrigerated.  What kind of chemical must that be?  But I drank it by the gallon, a little coffee in my flavored creamer.  I bet I added 1000+ calories a day drinking that crap.

After that phase I switched to cream and sugar, and now, of course since I'm sugar free*, cream and Truvia.  I drink Breakfast Blend, a light roast coffee, about 40 oz of it a day.  It really doesn't make me irritable (or more irritable) or more awake; I have my awake and productive zone which usually lasts from about 5 am until about 10 pm.  After that I'm shot, regardless of how much coffee I've had.

So I don't drink it to wake up, or stay awake.  I drink it because I LOVE IT.

My lovely wonderful daughter brought me back a pound of coffee from Nicaragua this summer; it is the best coffee I have ever had.  Probably at least partially because she gave it to me, but it has this, this air about it.  This flavor, this freshness.  I can't explain it.  It's delicious.

Here are some added health benefits of drinking coffee:

- It is rich in vitamins and minerals:  A single cup contains 11% of the RDA of riboflavin, 6% of RDA of B5, 3% of RDA of manganese and potassium and 2% of RDA of magnesium and niacin.  Not much if you only have 1 cup (8 oz) but they add up if you drink more than one cup.

- People who drink multiple cups of coffee per day have up to a 50% less risk of developing type 2 diabetes.  Just don't put sugar in it!

- Coffee drinkers have up to a 65% less chance of developing Alzheimer's Disease.

- Also coffee drinkers have an up to 60% less chance to get Parkinson's Disease

- And an 80% less risk of developing cirrhosis of the liver

- And a 40% less risk of developing liver cancer, and a 15% lower risk of colorectal cancer.

- Here's the biggie:  coffee has more antioxidants than both fruits and vegetables combined.

So drink some coffee and quit drinking those damned "energy drinks" for God's sake.  They're garbage.  Coffee is one of the healthiest beverages that you can drink, period.

Today's run:  2.84 miles, verified by Nike + running app.