The Pros and Cons of Decaf

FitSugar — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 12:30:00 -0700

I would still drink coffee daily, regardless of its new status as a health drink; I love the taste. Full of antioxidants and performance enhancing caffeine, the reasons to drink a cup of joe go far beyond merely enjoying the flavor of this distinct brew. If caffeinated coffee gives you the jitters you can still reap the health benefits of java. Decaf coffee contains the same amount of antioxidants of regular coffee. As an extra bonus to drinking decaf, it does not increase the risk of miscarriage that is associated with caffeine. Drinking decaf, however, will not improve your improve reaction time, mental acuity, alertness, and mood or ward off drowsiness the way regular coffee does because those benefits are caffeine related.

In the recent past, there have been health concerns about the methods of removing the caffeine from coffee beans. These concerns were based on the solvents used in the decaffeinating process, but the carcinogenic chemicals are no longer used. If you want to go chemical free look for decaf that has been water processed or Swiss processed – both methods are considered natural.

Go ahead and have a cup of decaf!

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