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Coffee: The ‘revolutionary’ drink

a cup of Coffee

More than two billion cups of coffee are consumed worldwide on a daily basis.

According to the statistics of the associations of this industry, in a few minutes when you finish reading this article, about one million people in the world will have drunk this hot drink by that time.

According to some authors and researchers, coffee, enlightened and influenced the ideas that gave birth to the ideas of capitalism, but how did the world become interested in the fruit of this one bush that grows in Ethiopia?

And is the habit of drinking it regularly good or bad for your health?

The shepherd, his goats and coffee
Tradition has it that a shepherd living in the present-day country of Ethiopia in East Africa observed that his goats seemed happier and more active after eating the fruit of the coffee tree.

After that, the local people started eating this soft grain directly.

Some traditions also point to the ancient practice of making tea from the leaves of the coffee plant.

According to the Brazilian Coffee Industry Association (ABIC), the first written record of coffee comes from Yemen and dates back to the 6th century AD.

According to ABIC, ‘the Arabs quickly mastered the techniques of planting and preparing coffee. The plants were called Kawe and the drink was called Kahwa or Kahu. It means ‘strength’ in Arabic.

Some parts of this plant were used as medicine in those days 15 centuries ago. Monks also began using it to wake up during night worship, but the roaster and ground coffee used today appeared in the 14th century.

In the following decades, the occupying powers in Europe and the Middle East began to cultivate coffee as a means of socializing with the local people.

It started in Turkey where the world’s first coffee shop opened.

Poets, philosophers, writers and other intellectuals initially adopted this practice and this brings us to the next topic.

The drink that became the cradle of modern thought

A history of coffee’s popularity has given some writers credit for the development of important ideas. Ideas that left their impact on the world for centuries to come.

For example, the German philosopher and sociologist Jürgen Habermas highlighted the role of coffee houses in Britain and Germany during the 17th and 18th centuries as places where debate and conversation took place.

Michael Pollan, the American author of ‘Under the Effect of Plants’, argues that the use of coffee served as fuel for new ideas.

One of these was the Enlightenment movement of the eighteenth century, which advocated the use of reason rather than faith to understand and solve society’s fundamental problems.

“There are strong reasons to believe that caffeine played an important role in the Enlightenment, the Age of Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, all because of its ability to focus,” he said in a video published by the American magazine Wired. was needed.’

He said that caffeine’s attention-enhancing and focusing properties played a role in all of these changes.

He added that before coffee came to Europe, people were drunk most of the day. He even drank alcoholic beverages for breakfast and could not think clearly.

However, the situation changed with the popularization of coffee from the 17th century.

Michael Pollan says that ‘London used to have literary cafes where writers and poets met. Other cafes were reserved for the stock market or the sciences.

Professor Ted Fisher is also the Director of the Institute for Coffee Studies at Vanderbilt University. “Coffee changed the course of history and promoted the ideas of Enlightenment and Capitalism,” he says.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that ideas about democracy, science and capitalism were born at a time when it (coffee) became popular,” he said. This drug enhances cognition and focus. Certainly coffee was part of the context that led to capitalism.

Speaking about capitalism, Fisher pointed out that the demand for coffee in many countries, including Brazil, changed the course of history.

He said that on the one hand, the abolition of slavery in 1888 and the expansion of coffee production in Brazil, while on the other hand, some manufacturers in Europe started offering coffee to employees in addition to selling coffee at a low price. ‘

He added that it was not selfishness on the part of the factory owners. They wanted to increase the productivity of their employees. In other words, we have the relationship between coffee consumption and capitalist production that led to increased cultivation in places like Brazil and Guatemala.

How does coffee work in the body?
Experts and health organizations point out that there is no danger in drinking coffee in moderation and it can even be beneficial, but how does this drink work in the body?

It takes about 45 minutes for it to be digested, enter the bloodstream and affect the nervous system.

One of the main substances in coffee and other products is caffeine. The chemical structure of caffeine is similar to that of adenosine. Adenosine is a compound produced by the body itself that produces a feeling of relaxation and sleep.

This causes the coffee molecule to fit into receptors on the surface of nerve cells, blocking the effect of adenosine.

“Caffeine has the ability to block these receptors,” explains Marilyn Cornelius, a professor and nutritionist at the Northwestern University School of Medicine in the US. Simply put, it has the opposite effect of adenosine, meaning it creates a feeling of alertness and focus.

According to various researches, the duration of the feeling of alertness obtained from caffeine lasts from 15 minutes to two hours.

Doesn’t coffee have negative effects on health?
Experts say that the adverse health effects depend on the amount consumed.

According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), healthy adults can consume up to 400 milligrams of caffeine per day, which is about the equivalent of five espresso cups.

Not recommended enough for children or adolescents because there is a lack of research on the effects of caffeine in people their age.

As for pregnant women, it is recommended to talk to your doctor before using it as caffeine can cause problems during menstruation for some women.

Exceeding the 400 mg limit for healthy adults can cause unpleasant symptoms such as insomnia, nervousness, restlessness, rapid heart rate, upset stomach, nausea and headache.

Cases of caffeine overdose are rare and are associated with overuse of drugs or energy drinks.

According to the FDA, this happens when more than 1,200 mg of caffeine is consumed per day. That’s the equivalent of drinking more than 18 cups of espresso in a few hours.

Epidemiological and experimental studies published in the last ten years have begun to observe the positive effects of regular and moderate coffee consumption.

Mathias Hein, a pharmacist who researched at Harvard University in the United States and the University of Navarra in Spain, said that drinking two to five cups (of coffee) daily reduces the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and even some types of cancer. ‘

“We also have studies on caffeine and reducing the risk of Parkinson’s disease,” he added.

The studies mentioned in this article specifically examined coffee consumption.

Caffeine is also present in other foods. Such as soft drinks, energy drinks, or chocolate. The effect of caffeine in all of them may not be the same.

Also, the amount of caffeine in these products varies. Some more, some less. They are usually high in sugar which causes health problems.

It should also be noted that coffee contains not only caffeine but other substances such as the antioxidant chlorogenic acid.

According to Professor Marlin Cornelius, because of the positive aspects of coffee, experts have started looking at the drink in a positive light.

“In 2015, based on the available evidence, the US Dietary Guidelines for the first time reported that up to five cups of coffee per day is not harmful, but possibly beneficial,” he says.

But nutritionist Professor Marlin Cornelius points out that there are reasons for coffee drinking beyond the psychoactive effects of caffeine and the desire to improve health.

“Drinking coffee is also about community atmosphere, breaks from work and opportunities to chat, build relationships and enjoy a good social environment,” he said.

“That kind of environment seems even more attractive now that we’ve faced isolation with the Corona pandemic,” said Marilyn Cornelius.

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