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Dr. Kim Mulvihill ReportingNew research concludes coffee can not only clear the mind and perk up the energy, it also provides more healthful antioxidants than any other food or beverage in the present, typical American diet.
It's reassuring news to all the coffee lovers out there. Anti-oxidants are powerful, disease fighting compounds found in all foods that comes from plants; and coffee, which comes from a bean, came out on top.
Out of the top 10 sources of anti-oxidants in the US diet, Americans get small amounts from tomatoes, red wine, and tea, but they get four times that amount from coffee. Does that mean you should add a cup or two to your daily diet?
Dr. Wayne Askew is a professor of nutrition at the University of Utah. He says the best source of anti-oxidants still comes from fruits and veggies.
Dr. Wayne Askew, University of Utah: "I hope that people don't go off in the wrong direction with this thing. I think it's interesting to find out that coffee has some beneficial components in it, anti-oxidants, but there's really no excuse not to eat the other nutrients, because there's a lot of other things that go along with the anti-oxidants that you get when you consume fruits and vegetables, such as fiber, and other vitamins and minerals, which are not in coffee."
In other words, food is complex and we should eat our fruits and vegetables. Dr. Askew says eat things that have deep colors; the purples, the oranges, the reds, and the dark greens. These foods are well-proven to help fight cancer and cardiovascular disease. As for the anti-oxidants in coffee, that's true for all types of coffee--regular, or decaffeinated.
