Has coffee gotten an unfair rap?

WASHINGTON – For many a second cup of coffee comes with a teaspoonful of concern that it might not be good for them. But maybe coffee is getting a bum rap.

The New York Times Magazine pulled together a number of studies that seem to bolster the health benefits of coffee.

One study, from the National Cancer Institute, tracked adults between ages 50 and 71 for more than 20 years and found that those who drank two or three cups of coffee a day were less likely to die during the study than those who didn’t drink coffee.

A University of South Florida study indicates that, among adults with the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease, those with little caffeine in their bloodstream were more likely to get full-blown Alzheimer’s than those who had caffeine levels comparable to three cups of coffee.

Other studies found that moderate coffee drinking might ward off recurrence of breast cancer, Type 2 diabetes, prostate cancer, oral cancer and basal cell carcinoma.

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