La Fao ha aiutato i piccoli produttori di caffè del Guatemala a far fronte ad una patologia che aveva colpito le loro piante.
Coffee: its pros and cons
Useful for those who want to stay awake and active, adored for its intense ans sensual aroma, coffee is also infamous for the disorders it can cause if consumed in large amounts.
Useful for those who want to stay awake and active, adored and appreciated for its intense ans sensual aroma, coffee is also infamous for the disorders it can cause to those who consume large amounts of it. The “cons” of coffee are widely known: depending on the sensitivity and the amount consumed, it can alter natural sleep rhythms, cause anxiety or depression, as well as problems to your liver, it can increase the odds of cardiovascular diseases; in pregnant women it may cause congenital abnormalities in the fetus, if consumed in large amounts.
However, its beneficial properties are as known as the harmful ones. First of all, the belief that it causes pancreas and bladder tumours has been proven wrong; on the contrary, it seems that polyphenols contained in the coffee have an anti-cancer effect.
Coffee is useful to treat the symptoms of asthma because caffeine stimulates the dilation of bronchial tubes, mostly in young subjects. This is why it is good also for those who suffer from hay fever and allergic rhinitis because it alleviates fatigue of respiratory muscles.
It triggers digestion in those patients who suffer from hypochlorhydria (absent or low production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach), thanks to the function of the chlorogenic acid that stimulates chlorhydric secretion; caffeine is not useful in this case, that’s why decaffeinated coffee is also fine.
Coffee also stimulates diuresis and intestinal motility, so it is beneficial to treat constipation: the effect is almost immediate, a few minutes after the intake.
Moreover, it seems that tannins contained in coffee help prevent tooth decay, because they tackle the development of cariogenic bacteria. Finally, coffee gives a hand also to those who want to lose weight, becuase it triggers liver lipolysis, i.e. the breakdown of lipids in adipose tissues, maintaining glycogen that serves as a form of energy storage.
But we mustn’t forget that coffee should be considered a medicine, so you shuld consume it in moderation, remembering that the coffee prepared with the coffee maker contains 20-25 percent more caffeine than the espresso you buy at the bar.
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