Interesting Information
Coffee makes us more likely to say 'yes' - 5 Jun 2006
If you're looking for a way to make someone say "yes", coffee can help, according to an Australian study. 

Moderate amounts of caffeine can have an impact on the extent to which we can be persuaded, the study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology revealed. University of Queensland researchers found that with caffeine consumption we are more likely to attend to, and agree with, persuasive arguments.

The experiments involved asking people their attitudes about voluntary euthanasia before and after reading persuasive arguments against their initial beliefs. Prior to reading the arguments, the participants consumed orange juice with either caffeine (equivalent to two cups of coffee) or no caffeine (placebo).

The level of "systematic processing of the message" was found to be increased by caffeine as shown by increased agreement with the arguments, greater message-related thinking and better argument recall.

Lead researcher Dr Pearl Martin, from the School of Psychology at the University of Queensland, said: "Given the numerous situations in which people are exposed to persuasive arguments, these results could have many applied implications.

"Consider how caffeine containing products (such as, coffee, tea, cola or energy drinks) might affect how persuaded a person is when, for example, listening to advertisements or a political speech on the radio/TV, reading a film review or in a business meeting to discuss work-related issues."
Coffee may cut liver disease by Nick Gibbens -  13 June 2006
Regular coffee consumption could reduce the risk of the alcohol-related liver disease alcoholic cirrhosis, a study has suggested. 

Researchers from California's Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program analysed data from 125,580 men and women who had undergone voluntary examinations between 1978 and 1985.

Participants filled out a questionnaire to provide information about how much alcohol, coffee and tea they drank per day during the past year. Some of the individuals also had their blood tested for levels of certain liver enzymes. By the end of 2001, 330 participants had been diagnosed with liver cirrhosis, including 199 with alcoholic cirrhosis. For each cup of coffee they drank per day, participants were 22 per cent less likely to develop alcoholic cirrhosis, the study found.

Drinking coffee was also associated with a slight reduction in risk for other types of cirrhosis, the study added.

But tea was not associated with a reduced risk, suggesting that it is not caffeine that is responsible for the relationship between coffee and reduced cirrhosis risk.

Lead researcher Dr Arthur Klatsky said: "Previous reports are disparate with respect to whether the apparently protective coffee ingredient is caffeine; in our opinion this issue is quite unresolved.

"The findings do not suggest that physicians prescribe coffee to prevent alcoholic cirrhosis.

"Even if coffee is protective, the primary approach to reduction of alcoholic cirrhosis is avoidance or cessation of heavy alcohol drinking.

"Assuming causality, the data do suggest that coffee intake may partly explain the variability of cirrhosis risk in alcohol consumers.

"Basic research about hepatic coffee-ethanol interactions is warranted, but we should keep in mind that coffee might represent only one of a number of potential cirrhosis risk modulators."

The study is published in the June 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Coffee 'cuts blood pressure'  by Nick Gibbens -  9 Nov 2005
Drinking coffee may help keep blood pressure in check, a US study suggests. In contrast, drinking sugared cola raises blood pressure, researchers have found. The findings are published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

A team from Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital analyzed data from 155,594 female nurses in the US. The women answered questionnaires about their caffeine consumption, diet and health.

According to the study, women who drank more than three cups of coffee daily were about nine per cent less likely to develop high blood pressure than women who drank little or no coffee. However, women who drank more than four cans of sugared cola per day had a 35 per cent increased risk of developing high blood pressure.

"We found strong evidence to refute speculation that coffee consumption is associated with an increased risk of hypertension in women," said the authors.

Regarding the link found between drinking sugared cola and high blood pressure, the researchers said: "We speculate that it is not caffeine but perhaps some other compound contained in soda-type soft drinks that may be responsible for the increased risk in hypertension."

Around 50 million women in the US suffer from high blood pressure. The condition is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease, stroke, and congestive heart failure.

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