COFFEE
The truth of this one is a bit murky, but the Legend of Kaldi maintains that an Abyssian or Ethopian goat herder noticed that his flock was acting especially frisky after chowing down on some bright red berries. After sampling some for himself and verifying the mood shift, he brought the berries to a local imam who studied them, eventually roasting and boiling a batch in water, thus brewing up the original cup o' joe.
Coffee's good for you. Coffee's bad for you. You've seen the studies and heard the comments. So, which is it, really? That's still up in the air. It seems that coffee, like most things in life, is fine in moderation. It only becomes a problem when people can't seem to wrap their minds around the idea of what moderation actually means. Some studies even say the more you drink the better, and almost all studies have shown that there are many more benefits than dangers to a lot of coffee drinking. There are some interesting facts about coffee, though, that we bet you didn't know. Here are just a few of them:Health Benefits:
• Coffee can lift your mood, make you happier, and make you feel better. It alleviates depression.
• Have a headache? Drink a cup of coffee. It's been shown to help people get rid of their headaches.
• People who drink coffee have less colon cancer than people who don't. That's a big deal, especially if you have a family history of cancer.
• Parkinson's disease has also been shown to be reduced by drinking coffee.
• Coffee drinkers have lower rates of Type II diabetes, and that's an especially important finding since diabetes is becoming more prevalent today.
• Gallstones and cirrhosis of the liver – both lowered by drinking coffee.
• Coffee can protect your teeth from cavities.
• If you have asthma, drinking coffee can help manage your condition and might help you stop an attack if you don't have your medication available.
• One of the biggest benefits? People who smoke or drink alcohol get protective benefits from drinking coffee and have lower rates of liver problems and heart disease.
Other Uses:
• Coffee can be used to dye paper and fabrics. If you put the beans in hot water their color will start to come out. You can use that water to dye fibers.
• If you need a good facial scrub, you can coarsely grind some coffee beans and use them to scrub your face. They have great exfoliating properties.
• If you've been preparing food and your hands smell like it, rub some coffee beans between your hands for a few seconds; you can also suck on a coffee bean to freshen and clean your breath, no matter what you've been eating.
• Have a garden? Coffee makes great compost if you don't use it in excess, and sprinkling coffee grounds and orange peels around plants will keep cats from bothering the plants or using the garden as their personal litter box.
• Greasy pans can be cleaned with the left over ground beans that you used to exfoliate and scrub your face.
• You can also use coffee beans, placed in a bowl in your refrigerator, to get rid of food smells that might accumulate in there.
• These are just a few of the many uses for coffee. Drink it for your health, and use it for all kinds of other things. Coffee has lots of great uses! Experimenting with it can give you even more great ideas about how to use your coffee to improve your life in a lot of ways. It's not just for drinking anymore.