Real food: Tall tales and truths about drinking coffee
All parents tell their kids fibs to prevent them from eating unhealthy foods. My dad told me a doozy: drinking coffee would give me fleas in my tummy!
But there are many other widespread myths about coffee that recent scientific studies have dispelled.
The Coffee Science Information Centre says the most common misconception is that it is a diuretic. It does increase the frequency of urination, but not the amount of water you excrete. Coffee has now been included among the fluids that count towards our recommended daily intake of water by the British Dietetic Association.
The most surprising fact I learned is that it is not addictive. We over-use that word. Coffee does not work along the same neural pathways in the brain as an addictive drug or even nicotine would.
Coffee can trigger migraines in some people so it is best avoided in these cases. And yet some people find relief from drinking coffee at the onset of a headache.
This is because it is a vasodilator and will dilate the restricted blood vessels that are causing the pain.
The other way coffee is useful in pain relief is to enhance the effect of certain painkillers. If you take one ibuprofen and a cup of coffee it is as effective as taking two ibuprofen.
The positive effect coffee may have in treating Type 2 diabetes, a modern epidemic in the western world, is also looking promising.
Pregnant women are advised to limit their intake of caffeine to 200mg a day. This includes coffee, chocolate and cola drinks.
A cup of instant coffee contains about 80mg of caffeine while freshly ground coffee contains up to 120mg.
An espresso only contains 25-30mg as the beans have very little water contact, so will extract less caffeine.
There are no guidelines for the general population as to how much is advisable.
Try not to use coffee to give you a false sense of energy. This could be masking underlying issues like a poor diet, lack of proper sleep and stress.
And for those who drink decaf, let me dispel one final myth: the chemicals and processes to decaffeinate coffee are perfectly safe.
Tiramisu Cheesecake
250g Amaretti biscuits, crushed
60g melted butter
2tbls strong coffee
225g full-fat cream cheese
225g marscapone cheese
200g sugar
1tbls coffee liqueur
2tbls masala liqueur
2 eggs, beaten
4tbsp plain flour
Method
Mix the biscuit crumbs, melted butter and coffee together. Cover the base and sides of a 20cm spring-form cake tin with the mixture and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Mix the cream cheese, the liqueurs, marscapone and sugar together until smooth.
Gently fold in the eggs and flour. Do not over-mix.
Pour into the cake tin and bake for 40-45 mins at 175C.
Switch off the oven and allow the cake to cool inside.
Refrigerate for three hours.
Drizzle with melted chocolate before serving.
www.rozannestevens.com
- Rozanne Stevens
Irish Independent
