Good news java junkies- not only is coffee not very
addictive,
along with its caffeinated cousins tea and cocoa,
it appears to offer several potential health
benefits, according to new research presented at
                         the national meeting of the
American Chemical
      Society.

      French researchers reported that caffeine has no
affect on the
      area of the brain involved with addiction at doses of
one to three
      cups of coffee per day. Astrid Nehlig, Ph.D., of the
French
      National Health and Medical Research Institute
conducted
      research with laboratory animals that confirmed that
while
      moderate does of caffeine contribute to increased
alertness and
      energy, dependence does not occur at those levels.

      In this respect, caffeine appears to act differently
from
      amphetamines, cocaine, morphine or nicotine, Nehlig
says. These
      drugs are known to trigger functional activity in the
shell of the
      nucleus accumbens, the part of the brain responsible
for addiction
      even at low doses, she says.

      In a related presentation, researchers from the
University of
      Bristol reviewed a decade of research into caffeine's
influence on
      cognition and mood. The survey revealed that a cup of
coffee can
      help in the performance of tasks requiring sustained
attention, even
      during low alertness situations such as after lunch,
at night or when
      a person has a cold.

      Tea drinkers also got some good news. Researchers from
the
      Japanese Food Research Institute reported new data
about a major
      group of compounds in green tea called catechins.
These compounds
      have anti-oxidative, as well as antibacterial and even
antiviral
      potency, the researchers noted.American researchers
reported that
      these same compounds inhibited atherosclerosis, or
hardening of the
      arteries in hamsters during a 10 week dose-response
experiment.
      Both green and black tea lowered lipids and lipid
oxidation in the
      hamsters, even at very low dilutions, according to a
University of
      Scranton investigator.

      Possibly the best news of all is that even chocolate
has previously
      unexpected potential health benefits. In one study
presented at the
      conference, researchers reported that cacao liquor, an
ingredient
      of chocolate and cocoa, contains antioxidative
polyphenolic
      substances. In animal studies, these compounds showed
anti-ulceric
      activity in rats, as well as an inhibitory effect on
tumor promotion
      in mouse skin. A related in vitro study suggested that
these
      polyphenolic compounds, specifically the procyanidins
and
      oligomeric procyanidins that contribute to the flavor
of chocolate
      and cocoa, may also offer cardiovascular benefits.

      Chocolate appears to be a particularly good source of
antioxidants,
      reported by Joseph Vinson, Ph.D. His work suggests
that the quality
      and quantity of the antioxidants in chocolate is very
high relative to
      other common foods and beverages such as black tea,
red wine,
      apples, raisins, pinto beans and other plant products.
Dark
      chocolate contained four times the level of polyphenol
antioxidants
      compared to kidney beans, which have one of the
highest levels
      found in fruits or vegetables. Cocoa powder was even
higher,
      containing seven times the amount of antioxidants
found in the
      beans.

(Sean Henahan, Anaheim, CA 3/24/99)

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[log in to unmask] (Liza May)