That first sip…Ahhhhhhhhhhh

I heard a news report yesterday that it has been discovered that coffee is GOOD FOR YOU! How about that. More antioxidants in it than any other food or beverage in the American diet. I for one am glad to hear that.

When I started training for this marathon, I decided that I was going to get healthy and cut some things out of my diet – namely sugar, and coffee.

I replaced my coffee with Green Tea. It lasted about a week. I had such a headache that I could barely function, and the green tea was severly lacking when it came to that first-sip euphoria. Actually, "lacking" is the wrong word. It was non-existant. Kimmy and I have discussed the feeling you get when you take that first sip of coffee in the morning – it's about as close to heaven on earth you can get after being rudely awakened by the insistent buzzing of the alarm clock. Sometimes, we both have found, we actually wake up (before the alarm, even) in anticipation of that first sip. Kimmy knows. That's what happens when you share a brain with someone.

As far as the sugar goes, well…

Like I said, I had a large piece of cake yesterday, worthy or not.

Here are some excerpts from the article. This one is from the Dallas Morning News.

"Coffee not only helps clear the mind and perk up the energy, it also provides more healthful antioxidants than any other food or beverage in the American diet, according to a study released Sunday."

"Antioxidants, which are thought to help battle cancer and provide other health benefits, are abundant in grains, tomatoes, and many other fruits and vegetables."

"Mr. Vinson said he was researching tea and cocoa and other foods and added coffee."

"His team analyzed the antioxidant content of more than 100 food items, including vegetables, fruits, nuts, spices, oils and common beverages. The researchers then used Agriculture Department data on typical food consumption patterns to calculate the amount of antioxidants each food contributes to a person's diet."

"They concluded that the average adult consumes 1,299 milligrams of antioxidants daily from coffee. The closest competitor was tea at 294 milligrams. Rounding out the top five sources were bananas, 76 milligrams; dry beans, 72 milligrams; and corn, 48 milligrams. According to the Agriculture Department, the typical adult American drinks 1.64 cups of coffee daily."