S.W.O.T. analysis for coffee. Part 1: Strengths

If you ask me if I am a dog person or a cat person, I would answer Both!
If you ask me if I am a morning person or an evening person, I would answer Both!
If you ask me if I am a coffee person or a tea person, I would answer Both!
If you ask me if I am right handed or left handed, I would answer Both! Then, I would probably pause for a second and say ''I mean I am ambidextrous''
If you ask me if I like to watch television or listen to the radio, I would definitely answer Radio!

I always compare having a cup of coffee with listening to the radio. I prefer radio over television because it is an entertainment tool that sets me free. I can listen to a talk show while I am walking down the street, do the dishes or play backgammon with someone. Watching a documentary about marine life or binging on Netflix on television, on the other hand, only good for sitting down on my couch and chill.

There are very few things in life can both be a companion and give us the freedom we required. Coffee is one of them. I think coffee is fused into our daily life so well because we can enjoy it while doing other things. İn fact, at this very moment I am listening to a pot cast, working on the first part of this S.W.O.T. analysis and sipping Colombian coffee at the same time.

Another strength of coffee is, as much as we can enjoy it alone, it can be the source of social gatherings. Coffee is the ultimate conversation starter. The reason is obvious but very effective: Most coffee drinks are served hot. You cannot just chug your coffee.  When you sitting on a table next to a stranger and waiting for your coffee to get cooler, eventually you or that person next to you would say something and the conversation takes off.
It seems not significant but since the emergence of first coffeehouses in Europe during 17th and 18th century, most of the philosophical discussions and political debates begun exactly like that.

Today, every city in the world has thousands of cafes and coffee houses just to bring people together from all walks of life to exchange ideas, talking about daily events or gossip about other people.
At the end, not every one like to meet for kayaking, playing video games or fishing every day but almost everyone up for grabs a cup of coffee anytime.

Last but not least, coffee has some health benefits. Coffee drinkers have a lower risk to develop type 2 diabetes. Addition to that, Scientists are agreed on people who drink three to four cups of coffee a day have reduced the risk of mortality against all diseases except cancer. However, they cannot point why coffee drinkers live longer exactly. Besides of that, it is proven that drinking coffee helps prevent tooth decay; Only if consumed without any additives. Which means no milk, no half, and half no sugar.

This concludes the first part of the S.W.O.T. analysis for coffee. I hope you saw my Eleanor Roosevelt reference in the fifth paragraph. If you interested to read more about the relation between coffee and type 2 diabetes or how coffee can help fight with caries, click on the links at the bottom.
Would you like to read the second part of this S.W.O.T. analysis? Then click here:
http://www.dailynoms.org/2017/08/swot-analysis-for-coffee-part-2.html
Would you like to know why I started this blog? Then feel free to read my very first post here:
http://www.dailynoms.org/2017/07/food.html
While you are doing that I am going to make more coffee and start to write the part two: Weaknesses of coffee.

Coffee consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3898757/

Anti-carious effect of coffee in humans:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2848806/

Hydroxymethylfurfural

I first heard about this chemical compound's name in a biochemistry class in 1991.
I remember it not because I was a brilliant student but the funny name of this substance. It is a cytotoxic (toxic to living cells) which occurs when you heat treated any sugar based food. Basically, Hydroxymethylfurfural is a very fancy name for some kind of ash.

Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is a well-known substance in beekeeper community. Sugars such as lactose, galactose, and mannose are the toxic three musketeers for the honey bee colonies. HMF is not a sugar but considered as the D'artagnan of this trio because it appears where ever some sugar get heated. It is also the quality symbol for the honey we eat. If the levels of HMF exceeds 0.08 mg/g scientists suggest you should use that honey as glue instead of putting on your bread.

Any food which can be caramelized produces HMF. Including dried fruits, baked goods, coffee, honey etc. Most food naturally develops Hydroxymethylfurfural in during their shelf life. What makes HMF concerning is, it requires low temperatures to occur and it is highly soluble in water. For example, brewing tea levels differ between 170 F / 77 C to 212 F / 100 C.  If you use honey to sweeten your tea, the temperature of it is enough to increase HMF levels significantly. In fact, experts suggest never heat up honey more than 104 F / 60 C and preserve it below
71.6 F / 22 C to slow down the Hydroxymethylfurfural development.

HMF also found in cigarette butts. So you maybe smoking free for the last couple of years or proudly never smoked before but if you drink more than six cups of coffee a day (especially a dark roast) or enjoy biting burned corners of your croissant you invite great amounts of this toxin into your digestion system.

As humans, we consume 5 to 8 mg of HMF on a daily basis. Some studies show we receive HMF mostly from coffee and baked foods. The good news is, Hydroxymethylfurfural metabolize in kidneys and immediately excreted with the urine.

In conclusion, HMF is considered not a highly toxic compound but nobody has an opinion about its long term effects. Scientists have been experimenting to prove that Hydroxymethylfurfural is carcinogenic but so far nothing has been found. However, most agreed on the potential is there.

In early 2000's  a science team of five people revealed Hydroxymethylfurfural's genotoxic potential. You can reach the full article from here:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/12389324_5-Hydroxymethylfurfural_Assessment_of_mutagenicity_DNA-damaging_potential_and_reactivity_towards_cellular_glutathione

Food

Food...
I don't think about food in my daily life. It is just a ready, wrapped, consumable thing for me that I have to stuff in my mouth in order to not die...
That exactly what it was for me for last fifteen years. Before than that, I wasn't thinking about food either because my mom use to cook for us and all I had to do was sit on a chair, pull the plate in front of me and eat whatever on it. When you pursue a life like that, you won't really pay attention what food do to your body and your mind.

Years later, I moved to my own apartment and things changed for me. I was eating cardboard quality food. It was making me moody and my energy level became significantly low. Because of that, I gained habits that require less energy and provide instant excitement. I am talking about video games and watching Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu constantly.

Please don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with playing video games and binging on Daredevil. I enjoy doing both of them and I don't think it is waste of time. Yet, I enjoy being outside, write short essays, do something athletic etc. All of these things are time-consuming and to balance these activities I had to sacrifice the time for preparing and eating food. Hence, last fifteen years my meals were not much harm to my body but had no benefits either.

When you read healthy life style blogs or watch documentaries about healthy food, narrators tell you what changed their life drastically. It is mostly a health issue ends up in ICU or an accident which ends in ICU. Then they decide to start a healthy life style.

Well, that didn't happen to me. Instead, one day my roommate moved out and took his PS4 and forty two inch television with him. All of a sudden I had extra four to six hours to do something else. It led me to choose to put more time and effort on how to feed myself.

First time in our evolution, our bodies are not able to keep up with our minds. We give shorter lunch breaks and eat faster to catch up our daily tasks but we digest in the same amount of time like our ancestors did. We can trigger a panic attack just because we forgot breath slower. In fact, companies like Apple, now install applications to remind us to breathe as default in their products. And it is very sad.

All the sages, wise men and women and the enlighten ones suggest us to enjoy simple things in our lives when they appear. What we eat and drink is one of them. Most of us have the luxury to have a meal three times a day.

Hence, this blog begins. Not to ignore simple pleasures.