Boost coffee and tea sales by pointing out their health benefits

Reprinted with the permission of Nation's Restaurant News

by Mary H. Tabacchi

A stroll past any Starbucks will reveal the depth of Americans' love for coffee. And now, operators who are following Starbucks' lead and profiting from their own premium coffee programs or unveiling new coffee or tea drinks have more to celebrate than big margins. It turns out that coffee and tea consumption may actually have health benefits.

Several recent studies have established that coffee and teas are filled with antioxidants, or substances that may protect cells from the damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals. That means there is increasing evidence that coffee and teas may help to prevent such diseases as heart disease, Alzheimer's, asthma, lupus, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis or any other condition caused or exacerbated by oxidative inflammation.

Recently, a research article published in the prestigious American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found coffee to be sixth among the top 50 antioxidant-containing foods. The rankings were based on the amount of antioxidants found in a typical serving size. For a typical coffee or tea, that's about 6 ounces. Only blackberries, walnuts, strawberries, artichokes and cranberries contained more antioxidants per serving than did coffee.

Another study suggests that black tea is second to coffee in its antioxidant content, followed by bananas. Other studies suggest that green tea wields more antioxidants than coffee or black tea. Regardless of ranking, there is no denying that these drinks contain significant beneficial antioxidants. And, obviously, the stronger the brew, the greater the concentration of antioxidants.

There are at least six recent epidemiological studies from such institutions as Harvard University that suggest that coffee drinkers have fewer cases of diabetes and heart disease than do noncoffee drinkers. A larger number of studies have proposed that the consumption of green and black teas encourages the reduction of inflammatory diseases.

It is crucial to understand that the research discussed in this article involves both chemical analysis and epidemiological evidence. In other words, the research comes from two directions: one, the amount of antioxidants found in commonly eaten foods, and two, the association of these high-antioxidant-containing foods and reduction or prevention of inflammatory disease.

While coffee and tea can boast about their antioxidant content, so can most plant products. In the study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the foods with the highest-ranked levels of antioxidants were plant foods. Out of 1,100 foods studied, the top 300 antioxidant-containing foods were plants, which, of course, includes fruits and vegetables. This lends strong credibility to the idea that meals featuring more fruits, vegetables and coffee and tea beverages can contain a host of beneficial antioxidants.

As ever, there is a caveat to completely enjoying your espresso. Moderation counts because coffees and teas also contain caffeine, according to the University of Michigan University Health Service, which acts as a stimulant by exerting a strong effect on the central nervous system. When caffeine is consumed in moderate doses - or up to 200 milligrams, which is equal to two cups of coffee - it can help people feel temporarily more alert and less sleepy. In most cases, there are no negative side effects at this level.

However, there may be side effects such as increased blood pressure, breathing rate, heart rate, heartburn or anxiety if about 1,000 milligrams of caffeine, or 10 6-ounce cups of coffee, are consumed regularly. A 6-ounce cup of coffee contains about 100 milligrams of caffeine; both black and green teas contain about 40 to 60 milligrams.

So if coffee or tea sales need a boost, you can perk them up by tipping off customers to the potential health benefits of enjoying their lattes in moderation.

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Boost coffee and tea sales by pointing out their health benefits