Coffee: It’s Good For You, It’s Bad For You Depending On Who Did the Testing

Every morning approximately 100 million people in the United States drink their first cup of coffee, typically within their first hour of waking up. More than half of coffee drinkers acknowledge that they feel better—more like themselves—after their morning cup of the hot, dark liquid. It’s the caffeine in coffee that delivers a boost to our nervous systems.

Coffee is an efficient caffeine delivery system, and the popularity of drinking coffee is reflected in the estimated $40 billion Americans spend on it each year. That annual consumption amounts to twelve million pounds of coffee beans. The beans, once roasted and ground, get brewed with hot water and provide a steamy drink; it delivers the caffeine that gives most people a desired overall feeling of wellbeing.

Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant. Because caffeine is in coffee beans, it’s the world’s most widely consumed psychoactive drug. But unlike many other psychoactive substances, caffeine is legal and unregulated in nearly all parts of the world. In addition to coffee, caffeine is in many foods and drinks including tea, soft drinks, cocoa and chocolate. It’s also in some prescription and nonprescription drugs such as ones used to treat colds, allergies and pain.

The type of coffee beans and the way they are processed varies the amount of caffeine in an 8oz. cup of regular coffee. Most tests involving coffee drinkers use a standard of 50 milligrams of caffeine per cup. The rule of thumb usually given by doctors is that drinking more than six cups a day of regular coffee, about 300 milligrams, is excessive and can lead to health problems.

Studies from well-established research companies and universities push the pendulum of good and bad things about coffee back and forth repeatedly. News sources intensified fearful reports about the bad health risks of coffee drinking more than 30 years ago. However, the most recent eye-opening reports about the benefits of coffee consumption were spread within the last two months by several media. 

Some of the health benefits of drinking coffee supposedly include the following items, some of which seem outlandish and impossible. At any rate, these reports were released to the public:

• Regular coffee drinkers are 80% less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease;
• Two cups a day cut the risk of gallstones in half;
• Two cups a day caused an 80% drop in the risk of developing cirrhosis;
• Two cups a day reduced the risk of colon cancer by 20 percent.

Older studies of coffee consumption during the last 30 years suggest that caffeine is beneficial in treating asthma, stopping headaches, boosting mood and even preventing cavities in teeth.

The pendulum swings to the bad effects of coffee drinking, depending who is conducting the studies. Caffeine results in negative effects on the nervous system. It has a record of increasing anxiety, stress, and food cravings. The cause of damaging sleep quality has long been an accepted effect of caffeine.

Consuming added calories with no nutritional value is an overlooked problem of coffee. People who drink restaurant and specialty store coffees often overlook how much the flavoring and creamers add calories and fat to their favorite, frothy drinks.

Consumers line up on the pro or con sides of the effects of coffee drinking according to whether they like drinking it or not. Most doctors agree that coffee, like almost everything we enjoy consuming, won’t harm us if we practice moderation.

Much of the data presented here were found on Wikipedia. Information used from other institutions who participated in studies of the effects of coffee drinking included John Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD; Rutgers University of Public Health, New Brunswick, NJ; and Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute, Tampa, FL.

If you ever wondered where the phase “a of cup joe” for a drink of coffee came from, you can choose from two popular origins. Some wordsmiths say that joe is a reference to an average person—someone with a common background. Therefore, the common drink among the masses became called “a cup of joe.” The timeline of this phrase is buried in history.

A more interesting and colorful explanation of the phrase comes from a recorded event in 1914. Josephus Daniels, then Secretary of the Navy, banned all alcoholic beverages from United States ships. Sailors objected to the order but had no choice after alcohol, long a staple on ships, was banned. The Navy personnel substituted the only strong drink available—coffee. In a protest to the secretary’s rule, the enlisted men named their coffee after Josephus, calling it “a cup of joe.”    

Thanks for reading this blog. Another interesting subject will be in this space next month. See my website at www.joevlatino.com.

First Thanksgiving Feast Had Turkey but No Stuffing, No Pie, No Women

This blog entry was originally posted on November 20, 2015.

The Pilgrims started their first colony in Plymouth, MA, in 1620. They endured a year of near starvation but somehow built homes, storage areas and even a church. During the second year, their farms provided a bountiful harvest, mostly due to the help and advice from the local Native Americans.

In November, 1621, the pioneers, in what would become known as the American Colonies, celebrated their bountiful harvest before the cold, fall season set in. Their impromptu celebration set the precedent for our annual celebration of Thanksgiving.

About 50 Pilgrims and 90 Wampanoag Indians got together some time that November. The exact date is unknown. A strict religious group, the Pilgrims believed that a thanksgiving was a gathering that included prayers and worship. But even then, the food played a major role in their celebration.

The first Thanksgiving lasted about three days. Their guests, the Wampanoag Indians, slept outside when the Pilgrims went into their homes to rest after each day of eating and celebrating. The women dutifully cooked and served the food to the celebrants, but the female Pilgrims were prohibited from joining the male partygoers who exchanged gifts and played games.

The women boiled vegetables, roasted meats and baked bread in their ovens. A delicious smell probably drifted over the primitive encampment as the women carried the food among the party goers. The women served the men and darted back to their open fires to continue their cooking chores. For many of the women, it was the first time they made close contact with Indians. Some of them were fascinated with being near a group of people foreign to them. Others were afraid to interact with the Indians. We can speculate that the women probably talked among themselves and decided that the hard work they had to do would stop them from inviting Thanksgiving guests the next year.

Nothing was recorded about the food that was consumed during the first Thanksgiving. But historians can surmise what the menu might have been by knowing what food sources were available to the settlers. Researchers often conclude that turkey, our staple on Thanksgiving tables, was not part of the meal the Pilgrims had. However, wild turkey was plentiful in Massachusetts in the 1600s. The Pilgrims and Indians undoubtedly ate turkey as part of the feast. Turkeys, roasted over open fires, weren’t stuffed with spices and bread crumbs back then. With turkey, they also ate duck and other migrating fowl.

Pies, fruit pies as we know them, weren’t part of the staples the Pilgrims ate. The pie they knew in England was typically a meat pie and similar to what we call today a pot pie. It would have been too complicated for the Pilgrims to bake. Pumpkins grew wild, but they weren’t part of the Pilgrims’ food group, thus eliminating pumpkin pie from the menu. Wild duck was plentiful and a popular food. They also ate roots, squash, carrots, peas and corn. The Pilgrims grew all these vegetables with the knowledge they learned from the Wampanoags. Migrating fowl of several types were eaten at the feast. Staples such as walnuts and chestnuts came from the forest. Fresh corn wasn’t available in the cold autumn. Only dried corn was possible to be used on the Thanksgiving menu. The Wampanoags probably provided a favorite of theirs called sobaheg. It’s a stewed mix of dried corn, roots, beans, squash and chunks of meat. Cranberries were available, but only in their natural form. Cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes weren’t invented yet. The friendly Indians probably provided several deer to the original feast. Venison was readily available. It was a favorite food for the locals and the Pilgrims and an important source of protein in their agrarian diets.

President Abraham Lincoln made the first attempt to make Thanksgiving a holiday. He proclaimed it a national day of celebration in 1861. Lincoln hoped that the holiday would help unify the country at the beginning of the Civil War. The 16^th president ordered government offices closed on the fourth Thursday of November to celebrate Thanksgiving. On October 3, 1863, the holiday became an official national observance.

In 1939, politics motivated President Franklin D. Roosevelt to move the holiday to the third Thursday of November, to encourage citizens to begin their Christmas shopping one week earlier. The country was ending its worst economic decade. Roosevelt proclaimed the date change to help strengthen the weak economy.

On December 26, 1941, just 19 days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor that pushed the United States into World War II, the U.S. Congress moved Thanksgiving to its permanent place on the fourth Thursday of November. That change to the original date worked to calm a very nervous population that was facing participation in a world-wide conflict.

Thanksgiving often is considered the favorite national holiday. It doesn’t bring the pressure of buying gifts to exchange with family and friends but focuses on time spent with family. Today, turkey is the main course for most of Thanksgiving meals in the United States. According to a CNN poll, 46 million turkeys will be baked, grilled or fried this month.

Veterans Day’s Name, Date, and Celebration Changed

Woodrow Wilson

Veterans Day falls on the eleventh day of this month. It started when President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation on November 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. His proclamation declared Armistice Day, its original name, an annual observance and celebration of the U.S. military people who fought during the world-wide conflict that was then called The Great War.

The observance didn’t become a federal holiday for 29 years, till the U.S. Congress made Armistice Day a national holiday in 1938. President Dwight D. Eisenhower changed the name to Veterans Day in 1954 to honor not only World War I vets but all military people who participated in any American war and military action.

In 1971 the date for the holiday changed when Veterans Day became one of the Monday holidays. President Gerald Ford moved it back seven years later to its original November 11th date.

Thirty countries sent military personnel to be part of World War I. The United States suffered 116,516 casualties during the war that began July 28, 1914 and ended November 11, 1918. During World War II, the number of Americans killed was 405,399. The Korean conflict resulted in 54,246 military deaths. During the Vietnam War, 58,209 American military died. Since the Iraq-Afghanistan War began in 2001, the current American casualties number 6,717. These casualty figures were provided by Wikipedia.

Memorial Day is another federal holiday dedicated to honoring American military people. It’s celebrated on the last Monday of May and honors military people who died during battle. Veterans Day honors all military for their service.

Thanks for reading this blog. Visit this space later this month to read another interesting topic. See my website at www.joevlatino.com.

U.S. Constitution Quickly Needed Adjustments Called “The Bill of Rights”

Our country’s Founding Fathers realized that the legal document they wrote, called the U.S. Constitution, needed changes immediately after it was ratified into law on September 17, 1787.

Congress Hall in Philadelphia

The first 10 of the current 27 Amendments to the historic document make specific references to freedoms not explicitly indicated in the main body of the Constitution. These 10 specific laws, added two years after the ratification of the Constitution, guarantee individual liberties, limit government power in judicial proceedings, and reserve powers to the states and the public. They are called The Bill of Rights.

The original U.S. Congress proposed 12 amendments to the Constitution on September 25, 1789. State legislatures rejected the first two proposals and ratified the remaining 10 in 1791. The first rejected proposal described the number of constituents for each U.S. representative and the second one dealt with the salaries of congressmen. So proposals 3 to 12 became the first amendments to the Constitution. 

This is a synopsis of the Bill of Rights ratified by the 13 U.S. states on December 15, 1791:

• Amendment 1 Freedom of Religion, Speech and the Press 
• Amendment 2 Right to Bear Arms 
• Amendment 3 Housing of Soldiers in Private Homes
• Amendment 4 Protection from Unreasonable Search and Seizures 
• Amendment 5 Protection of Rights to Life, Liberty and Prosperity
• Amendment 6 Rights of Accused Persons in Criminal Cases
• Amendment 7 Rights in Civil Cases
• Amendment 8 Preventing Excessive Bail, Fines, and Punishments
• Amendment 9 Other Rights Kept by the People
• Amendment 10 Undelegated Powers Kept by the States and People

The Bill of Rights helped satisfy opponents to the ratification of the Constitution. Several state legislatures charged that the Constitution established a strong central government that could violate the civil rights of the individual states. The concern of an all-powerful central government came out during debates among the state leaders during the ratification process.  This concern was a carry-over from the domination of the British to the U.S. Colonies. Members of the First Congress wrote the Bill of Rights to prevent the federal government from ever dominating the states.

Seventy-seven years later the Fourteenth Amendment ensured citizens of all states have not only rights on the federal level but on the state level as well. This amendment became law shortly after the end of the Civil War. It meant that the newly freed slaves and their descendants were full citizens of the United States and must be afforded all the legal protections granted to citizens. Ratified on July 9, 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment gave the individual states the powers to enforce the personal freedoms guaranteed in the Bill of Rights under a process known as incorporation. The U.S Constitution and subsequent amendments influence legal decisions made at the state and federal level.

There were fourteen handwritten copies of the Bill of Rights, one for each of the original states and one for Congress. There are few surviving copies, two can be viewed publically in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. and the New York Public Library.

Thank you for reading this blog. Come to this space later this month to read about another interesting topic. See my website at www.joevlatino.com.