Herbs & Herbal Remedies @ Green Papaya

Coffee may increase anxiety, blood pressure, cholesterol, heart and respiration rate, and secretion of stomach acid. It may cause insomnia, irritability, and nervousness. Caffeine has also been implicated in cancer, heart disease, anxiety neuroses, and birth defects. One recent report noted: “If caffeine were a newly synthesized drug, its manufacturer would almlost certainly have great difficulty getting it licensed under current [Food and Drug Administration] regulations. If it were licensed, it would almost certainly be available only by prescription.”

More than the Jitters

When you drink more coffee than you’re used to. what happens? As every coffee drinker knows, you get jittery and impatient and have trouble falling asleep Individual reactions to caffeine vary, but over time, large amounts cause “caffeinism,” a condition with the same symptoms as anxiety neurosis: nervousness and irritability, chronic muscle tension, insomnia, heart palpitations, diarrhea, heartburn, and stomach upset. In fact, many people are misdiagnosed with “anxiety neurosis” when the problem is actually caffeinism, according to a report in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Not everyone who quits or cuts back develops withdrawal symptoms, but most do. The throbbing headache usually begins within 18 to 24 hours and lasts a few days. Constipation is also possible for a day or two.

Special Orders for Special Conditions

• Coffee increases secretion of stomach acid. Those with ulcers or other chronic digestive disorders should use it sparingly, if at all.
• Three cups of brewed coffee can boost blood pressure as much as 15 percent. If you have this risk factor for heart disease and stroke, discuss your coffee consumption with your physician.
• Even a moderate coffee habit, a cup or two each morning, may boost blood cholesterol levels by about 5 percent. Five to 10 cups a day may boost it by as much as 10 percent.

But recently, researchers discovered that only boiled coffee appears to raise cholesterol. Drip and instant apparently do not, for reasons that remain a mystery.

If your cholesterol level is high enough to put you at increased risk of heart disease, discuss your coffee consumption with your physician. If you don’t stop drinking it, make sure you use only drip or instant.

• Independent of coffee’s action on cholesterol and blood pressure, it also increases risk of heart attack. Drinking five cups a day almost doubles heart attack risk, and ten cups almost triples it, according to a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

If you have heart disease or a history of stroke, discuss your coffee consumption with your physician.

• Many animal studies link caffeine with an increased risk of birth defects. The doses given to the experimental animals were much higher than what even heavy coffee drinkers consume. But prudence suggests that pregnant women limit their consumption.
• Coffee has been linked to cancers of the breast, bladder, ovaries, pancreas, and prostate gland. All of these reports have subsequently been disputed. Several have been thoroughly debunked. Coffee’s contribution to human cancer, if any, remains unclear. However, the roasting process introduces pro-cancer chemicals into coffee beans. People with a history of cancer might want to limit their consumption.
• Some studies link caffeine to painful, non-cancerous breast lumps (fibrocysts). a normal but annoying condition. Women bothered by a fibrocystic breast condition might try cutting out all caffeine-in coffee, tea, cocoa, chocolate, soft drinks, and over-the-counter drugs-and seeing if their condition improves.
• In one study, women who drank two to four cups of brewed coffee a day suffered five times the rate of bloating and other premenstrual symptoms of those who abstained.
• Coffee interferes with iron absorption, a potential problem for people with iron-deficiency anemia, or for women who experience heavy menstrual flow.

Coffee and Conception

Women who drink 1 cup of brewed coffee a day are only about half as likely to get pregnant as those who don’t, according to a study conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Health. Women attempting to conceive, especially those with a history infertility, are advised to limit their intake of beverages or drugs containing caffeine.

On the other hand, researchers agree caffeine should not be used as a contraceptive, because its fertility-reducing effect is highly unreliable. You’d be foolish to use it as a contraceptive.

How Safe Is It?

Until recently, the Food and Drug Administration listed coffee among the herbs generally regarded as safe, but publicity concerning caffeine’s many health hazards has prompted the agency to reconsider coffee’s status.

For otherwise healthy non-pregnant, non-nursing adults who have no history of ulcers, hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, anxiety, fertility problems, or heart disease and are not taking other medications containing caffeine, coffee is considered relatively safe in amounts of up to three brewed cups per day.

Coffee should be used in medicinal amounts only in consultation with your doctor. If coffee causes insomnia, stomach distress, anxiety or any of the other problems discussed above, use less or stop using it Let your doctor know if you experience any unpleasant effects or if the symptoms for which the herb is being used do not improve significantly ill two weeks.

Pretty as a Houseplant

Coffee grows in tropical areas around the world. The plant is an evergreen shrub 01 small tree with two-seeded, bright crimson fruits. The green seeds (beans) are extracted and roasted to produce the dark brown, oily beans recognized the world over. (Most of the world’s supply consists of the Arabian arabica species. But liberica, from Liberia, and robusta, from the Congo, are also cultivated worldwide.)

You can, however, grow a coffee plant purely as an ornamental if you live in a sunny, humid area where the temperature does not dip below 60°F. The plant requires full sun, moist air, moist soil, good drainage, and regular feeding. Coffee plants are also available as house plants. Again, they require full sun and high humidity. They grow well in greenhouses, but not in homes with forced-air heating, which tend to be too dry. Consult your local nursery or plant store.

Caffeine, the stimulant in coffee (and cocoa, tea, mate, and cola drinks) is also an ingredient in many cold, flu, sleep-prevention, and menstrual remedies-uses that are direct outgrowths of its role in traditional herbal healing.

Coffee’s caffeine content depends on how it’s prepared. A cup of instant contains about 65 milligrams. Drip or percolated coffee has 100 to 150 milligrams. A cup of espresso contains about 350 milligrams.

Caffeine is such an integral part of our culture, we seldom realize how much of a drug it is. The fact is, caffeine is classically addictive. Regular users develop a tolerance and require more to obtain the expected effect. Deprived of caffeine, regular users usually develop withdrawal symptoms, primarily headache.

The media regularly report health problems linked to coffee, but they never discuss its many possible healing benefits.

Pick-Me-Up - No doubt about it: Coffee is a powerful central nervous system stimulant. For those who drive long distances, it helps prevent dozing at the wheel. And it counteracts the sedative effects of antihistamines, which is one reason it’s included in many cold remedies. It does not, however, help people sober up after overindulging in alcohol.

Increased Stamina - Attention, athletes: Coffee may improve physical stamina, according to a report in The Physician and Sports medicine. The International Olympic Committee forbids the use of more than seven cups within 3 hours before Olympic events.

Asthma - A few studies show coffee helps prevent asthma attacks. The caffeine opens the bronchial passages in the lungs, thus supporting one of the herb’s traditional uses.

Weight Loss - Coffee may help some people lose weight.

It may boost the number of calories you burn per hour-your metabolic rate-by about 4 percent. In people with weight problems, that translates to a significant increase in calorie’ burned after a meal, according to one study.

Jet Lag - Jet lag is the disorientation, insomnia, and fatigue that develop after flying across time zones. Coffee may help shift the body’s natural time cycle (circadian rhythm) after abrupt time-zone changes Some jet-lag authorities recommend drinking coffee in the morning when traveling west and in the late afternoon when traveling east.

Rx for Coffee

Coffee has a wonderful, pleasantly bitter taste. Americans have more than proven that that’s sufficient incentive to drink it regularly You might also enjoy coffee as a pick-me-up for its stimulating effects, to possibly help increase stamina, prevent asthma attacks and jet lag, or with meals as a possible weight-loss aid.

For an infusion (otherwise known as a cup of java), use I heaping tablespoon of ground beans per cup of water. Brew it using your favorite method-or buy instant and follow directions on the label. Drink up to 3 cups a day.

Coffee-flavored food items (yogurt, ice cream, etc) also contain caffeine If you use them, adjust your coffee consumption downward.

Coffee should not be given to children under age 2. For aider children and people over 65, start with low-strength brews and increase strength if necessary.

Beyond the Boost

Family: Rubiaceae; (includes Gardenia, Ipecac, Cinchona)

Genus and Species: Coffea Arabica, C. Liberica, C. Robusta

Also known as: Arabica, Mocha, Java, Espresso, Capuccino, Latte

Parts used: Roasted, ground seeds (”beans”)

Next time one of your skeptical friends starts giving you a hard time about using herbs, here’s the perfect comeback: “Do you drink coffee?” Coffee is America’s most widely used herbal infusion. The average American drinks 28 gallons a year. But coffee does more than help us “take a break.” It may help prevent asthma attacks. It may boost physical stamina. And it may help people lose weight and overcome jet lag.

Coffee can also cause significant health problems. Few Americans appreciate just how potent it is. Coffee should be used as carefully as any other healing herb. Its active constituent (caffeine) is an addictive drug.

Tribal War Tonic

Our word coffee comes from Caffa, the region of Ethior where the fabled beans were first discovered. Archeolog’ evidence suggests that prehistoric East Africans loved cotfee’s remarkable stimulant properties. They ate the red, uriroasted beans (”cherries”) before tribal wars, extended hunts, and other activities requiring alertness, strength, and stamina.

The beverage we know as coffee emerged around A.D. 1000, when Arabians began roasting and grinding coffee beans and drinking the hot beverage as we do today.

In view of coffee’s enormous popularity, it’s surprising how slowly the habit spread. For 500 years, coffee remained in the Middle East Around 1500, spice traders introduced it into Italy, and within 150 years, it had spread throughout Europe.

Until the l Zth century, Arabia supplied all the world’s coffee through the port of Mocha, which became one of coffee’s names. Then the Dutch introduced the plant into lava, and the island quickly became synonymous with coffee.

An Agreeable Stimulant

Coffee has always been more popular as a beverage than as a healing herb. But European herbalists prescribed its stimulant effect to treat opium and alcohol sedation.

America’s 19th~century Eclectics prescribed coffee as “an agreeable stimulant that frequently overcomes the soporific [sedative] effects of opium, morphine, and alcohol.” They also recommended it to treat asthma, constipation, menstrual cramps, and dropsy (congestive heart failure)

The Eclectics also recognized coffee’s downside “If taken too freely, I coffee causes I irritability, trembling, confusion, ringing in the ears, and disorders of the bowel. On the other hand, if one is accustomed to moderate amounts, headache will result if the coffee be withdrawn.”

Folk healers have used coffee for centuries to treat asthma, fever, headache, colds, and flu. But few modern herbalists include it among healing herbs. How odd. Coffee is America’s Most popular herb.