Today coffee perhaps best known for its dark, rich, bold flavor and its concentration of caffeine. Most busy parents, stressed students, and on-the-go professionals drink coffee both for its savory taste and for the little pick-me-up it offers each morning or afternoon. While coffee’s numerous wonderful qualities have long made it a staple in the diet of many westerners, it has only been recently that scientists have begun to uncover some additional health benefits provided by the bean itself. As a result, more and more people every day are jumping on the coffee train.
Coffee, which is derived from coffee beans of the plant of the same name, has certainly evolved during the hundreds of years during which it has been utilized by various cultures. Today’s sometimes complicated coffee drinks would indeed be entirely unrecognizable to people who once simply chewed the raw beans. And now more and more people are converting to coffee for precisely this reason; with so many varieties of coffee drinks to choose from, there is something to fit the tastes of even the most discerning palate. Whether one enjoys a dark shot of rich espresso or would prefer a sweet extra-foam caramel macchiato, today’s coffee retailers ensure that everyone can be a coffee lover.
The growth of major coffee retailers in the past decade has helped to make coffee a mainstay in the mainstream cultural dietary regime. Today more and more people who never previously frequented coffee shops or retailers, are now beginning to jump on the Starbucks bandwagon. Options tailored to meet one’s specific flavor preferences as well as nutritional needs, ensure that everyone can find exactly what they would like. Special limited edition offerings and a festive atmosphere of many coffee shops during the fall and holiday season also have helped to make coffee more similar to a wonderful little indulgence or treat, rather than a simple beverage option.
In this economy, in particular, more and more people are taking solace in enjoying small, more cost-friendly, quality-of-life indulgences, and forgoing more expensive habits such as dining at high-priced, four-course restaurants.
In addition to the delicious, bold, rich flavor savored by coffee-lovers, the drink is also enjoyed for its quite potent caffeine properties. For busy students, professionals, and parents, coffee is often a central part of the morning routine. A good cup of coffee can help to ensure a more enjoyable and productive day of study and work, and to make up for a few hours of missed sleep or a late night at the office or library.
Recently scientists studying the chemical composition of coffee also found that it contains some properties that were not previously known.
Much of the focus on the healthful properties of coffee has been centered around the fairly recent discovery of the abundance antioxidants found in coffee beans. Coffee beans, which are dark brown in color, are said to be close to blueberries in richness of antioxidants. As a result they are believed to be beneficial in preventing premature skin aging, among many other benefits to the body.
Perhaps the most important role of antioxidants in human health, however, is their cancer-prevention property. Enjoying a simple cup of coffee every morning along with a bowl of fresh blueberries or broccoli every evening, could potentially go a long way in preventing illness later on. Thus more and more Americans are considering introducing coffee into their dietary regime in order to start reaping some of its numerous and significant health benefits.
Thus it seems that whether it is being savored for its unique, rich flavor, or for its numerous health benefits, coffee is quickly becoming the beverage of choice of many people around the world.