I never used to eat breakfast. Skipping breakfast seemed like a perfectly logical way to help me cut calories and lose weight. But I learned early on in my weight-loss efforts that this was one of the reasons I wasn’t seeing success on the scale. Through trial and error I learned that I really needed to start my day with a combination of protein, healthy fat, and fiber to prevent a serious case of the midmorning munchies. Now, no matter how little time I have, I know I can throw together something fast that will keep me going until lunchtime.

Tina Haupert

15 minutes to spare
My go-to breakfast is a big bowl of oatmeal full of fun toppings, which keeps my routine from getting boring. I combine ½ cup dry-oats oatmeal with 1 cup water or soy milk  and microwave for two minutes. My topping combinations vary, but my favorites include walnuts, pumpkin seeds, raisins, a spoonful of canned pumpkin, ground flaxseed meal, wheatberries, and—my favorite—a spoonful of nut butter.

I also like to toss in some fruit, too, such as banana slices or berries. Eating fruit with breakfast is such a small thing, but it sets a healthy tone for my day.

10 minutes to spare
If I hit snooze one too many times, I whip up a quick, homemade smoothie. I blend ½ cup nonfat yogurt, ½ cup frozen berries, a banana, 1 tablespoon of hemp protein,½ cup soy milk, and ½ cup ice, and drink it on the go. The extra protein helps keep me satisfied. This smoothie takes less than 10 minutes, including cleanup.

Less than five minutes
If I am really pressed for time, my favorite store-bought breakfast is an Odwalla bar, a piece of whole fruit, and a soy-milk misto. A misto is simply a cup of brewed coffee with steamed milk, and it has far fewer calories—and costs less—than a latte or cappuccino.

By Tina Haupert

The reason we use food as a source of comfort has been examined from every angle by individuals a lot smarter than me. I’m not here to tell you what to do, but I want to give you a few suggestions on how to deal with tackling a food issue.

1. Do not skip breakfast.

People are 75% more likely to overeat the rest of the day if they skip breakfast. Now, if you have a hard time wanting food in the morning, make a nutritional smoothie: Throw in some frozen fruit, greens, protein powder, a little almond butter for satisfying fat and your liquid of choice. Oatmeal is an easy one in the morning. I have said this a lot, but remember that sugary cereal (aka cardboard with sugar) and bagels are not breakfast. Boil eggs and eat with a slice of toast or some avocado. Get your day started right.

2. Bored at work or home? Find a distraction other than food.

If you’re at work and have a break, go for a walk or bring a healthy snack to eat. If you’re doing “the kitchen roam” and find yourself with the fridge open, call a friend or give yourself an indulgent 10 minutes online. This will be one of the only times I say this, but go look up something silly or even informative online to distract yourself from food.

3.  Eat only when you are hungry.

Don’t just mindlessly shove food in your face because it’s something to do. If you can not stop eating when you are bored, then try substituting it with a new habit.

4.  Eat until you are full.

Put it in front of me and I will eat it. Hey, I was always taught to clean my plate, so of course I will eat until all my food is gone, even if it’s long after I’m full. Either control your portions, or buy smaller dinner plates. If you are out to eat, (even if it feels
tacky) have them put half your food to go as soon as you get it.  

5. Avoid fast food and vending machines.

This never ends pretty. Most of the food is fattening, tastes really good (so you overeat), and doesn’t have much nutritional integrity. It’s like dating a hot male or female that you know is psycho. Fun, exciting, but not going to end pretty. If you are on the road and have no other options, then try to pick the best of the bad. Don’t super size your order and avoid fried anything, sodas the size of 5 gallon buckets with a free refiill, and bread. In general, reach for chicken, salads, and, if you can, drink water.

6. If you are stressed out or having a personal crisis reach for the phone, not food.

Call a good friend or ask someone to go on a walk in a peaceful place so that you can vent. Don’t sit at home, alone, crying into a bowl of ice cream.

7. Find other things social to do that don’t always involve food.

This is tricky because when you look at how we structure our days and lives, a lot of social interaction is around food. That’s fine, but create a strategy for where you meet and eat. If you can combine it with some exercise and a healthy meal after, even better! This will provide a positive example for everyone.

8. Write it down. Keep a food journal.

You will be able to pin point exactly what foods and beverages are getting you where.

9. Have some fun.

Paul Chek told me that if we do the right thing 80% of the time in
our lifestyle habits, then we can have some fun the other 20%. Moderation, not denial.

By Gabrielle Reece

WASHINGTON – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that her chamber would have a sweeping health care bill on the floor by the end of July, an announcement that President Barack Obama hailed.

“That’s the kind of urgency and determination that we need to achieve what I believe will be historic legislation,” the president said at the White House, standing on the south driveway with Pelosi and Democratic leaders of the relevant House committees.

“Our health care system is broken,” Obama said. “We are not going to rest until we’ve delivered the kind of health care reform that’s going to bring down costs for families, improve quality, affordability, accessibility for all Americans.”

Pelosi, D-Calif., and other House Democrats had met with Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in the Oval Office just before going outside to make their announcement. No Republicans were present, and neither were any senators.

“We promised him that we will have this important legislation on the floor of the House before the August break,” Pelosi announced. “Our goal is to have a healthier America.”

Neither the speaker nor the president offered details of how the legislation will look, the subject of ongoing debate on Capitol Hill. The White House is remaining mostly quiet as proposals emerge for discussion among lawmakers, preferring to let Congress come up with a plan and engage more on the specifics later on.

Obama’s plan to provide coverage to some 50 million uninsured Americans is the cornerstone of his promise to enact a larger overhaul of the health care system. Independent experts put the costs at about $1.5 trillion over 10 years.

But turning that vision into reality remains the biggest challenge for the president and his backers, because hard cash — not just ideas — is required to cover upfront costs of expanding coverage.

The final financing package is likely to include a mix of tax increases and spending cuts in federal health programs. Among the possibilities are tax increases on alcoholic beverages, tobacco products and sugary soft drinks, and restrictions on other health care-related tax breaks, such as flexible spending accounts.

Senators also are considering limiting — but not eliminating — the tax-free status of employer-provided health benefits.

Employer-provided health insurance technically is considered part of workers’ compensation, but unlike wages, it is not taxed. The forgone revenue to the federal government amounts to about $250 billion a year.

So even if they’re lucky enough to avoid going to the doctor or hospital, and never use their job-based health insurance, some Americans may find themselves paying taxes on at least part of its value.

Some taxes don’t seem to be on the table, such as a federal sales levy to pay for health care or a new payroll tax.

On the question of taxing health benefits, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., who chaired a round table of senators on Tuesday, is staking out a position that could put him at odds with Obama.

The president adamantly opposed such taxes during the campaign, arguing they would undermine job-based coverage. Obama’s aides now say he’s open to suggestions from Congress, even if he criticized Republican presidential rival John McCain for proposing a sweeping version of the same basic idea.

Baucus said he wants to modify the tax break, not abolish it.

“We are not going to repeal it,” he said.

Baucus suggested that the benefit could be limited by taxing health insurance provided to high-income individuals, although he did not specify at what income levels. He also said that plans offering rich benefits — for example, no co-payments or deductibles — might be taxed once their value exceeded a yet-to-be-determined threshold.

Many experts say Congress won’t be able to come up with the kind of money needed to provide coverage for all unless limitations on the health care tax break are part of the mix.

___

On the Net:

Senate Finance Committee health care round table: http://finance.senate.gov/sitepages/hearing051209.html

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press Writer

 Reach for these items next time you’re feeling under pressure, under the weather, or just too close to that breaking point. Munching on these stress-free foods will help pull you back into the game.

Oranges

A German study in Psychopharmacology found that vitamin C helps reduce stress and return blood pressure and cortisol to normal levels after a stressful situation. Vitamin C is also well-known for boosting your immune system.

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes can be particularly stress-reducing because they can satisfy the urge you get for carbohydrates and sweets when you are under a great deal of stress. They are packed full of beta-carotene and other vitamins, and the fiber helps your body to process the carbohydrates in a slow and steady manner.

Dried Apricots

Apricots are rich in magnesium, which is a stress-buster and a natural muscle relaxant as well.

Almonds, Pistachios & Walnuts

Almonds are packed with B and E vitamins, which help boost your immune system, and walnuts and pistachios help lower blood pressure.

Turkey

Turkey contains an amino acid called L-tryptophan. This amino acid triggers the release of serotonin, which is a feel-good brain chemical. This is the reason why many people who eat turkey feel relaxed, or even tired, after eating it. L-Tryptophan has a documented calming effect.

Spinach

A deficiency in magnesium can cause migraine headaches and a feeling of fatigue. One cup of spinach provides 40 percent of your daily needs for magnesium.

Salmon

Diets high in omega-3 fatty acids protect against heart disease. A study from Diabetes & Metabolism found that omega-3s keep the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline from peaking.

Avocados

The monounsaturated fats and potassium in avocados help lower blood pressure. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute says that one of the best ways to lower blood pressure is to consume enough potassium (avocados have more than bananas).

Green Vegetables

Broccoli, kale, and other dark green vegetables are powerhouses of vitamins that help replenish our bodies in times of stress.

More stress-busting tips:

• Exercise reguarly
• Drink an energy shake for breakfast
• Eat small meals throughout the day, which will keep your blood sugar stable (when blood sugar is low, mental, physical, and emotional energy decreases, and stress increases).

Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc.

Source

 Oz Garcia, Ph.D, Marie Claire

WASHINGTON – The financial health of Social Security and Medicare, the government’s two biggest benefit programs, have worsened because of the severe recession, and Medicare is now paying out more than it receives.

Trustees of the programs said Tuesday that Social Security will start paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes in 2016, one year sooner than projected last year, and the giant trust fund will be depleted by 2037, four years sooner.

Medicare is in even worse shape. The trustees said the program for hospital expenses will pay out more in benefits than it collects this year and will be insolvent by 2017, two years earlier than the date projected in last year’s report.

The trust funds — which exist in paper form in a filing cabinet in Parkersburg, W.Va. — are bonds that are backed by the government’s “full faith and credit” but not by any actual assets. That money has been spent over the years to fund other parts of government. To redeem the trust fund bonds, the government would have to borrow in public debt markets or raise taxes.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the head of the trustees group, said the new reports were a reminder that “the longer we wait to address the long-term solvency of Medicare and Social Security, the sooner those challenges will be upon us and the harder the options will be.”

Geithner said that President Barack Obama was committed to working with Congress to find ways to control runaway growth in both public and private health care expenditures, noting the promise Monday by major health care providers to trim costs by $2 trillion over the next decade.

However, Republicans pointed to the newly dire assessments as evidence the Obama administration has failed to come forward with actual entitlement reform to close the funding gaps.

“Instead of getting existing public programs in order right now, some are saying we should create a new government-run health insurance plan,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the Finance Committee, said in a reference to the administration’s health care proposals. “When we can’t afford the public health plan we have already, does it make sense to add more?”

House Republican leader John Boehner said the trustees report “confirms what we already knew: Our nation cannot afford to continue this reckless borrowing and spending spree.”

The findings in the trustees report, the annual checkup given the two benefit programs, did not come as a surprise. Private economists had been predicting that the dates the programs would begin to pay out more than they take in and the dates the trust funds would be insolvent would occur sooner given the economic recession.

The deep recession, the worst the country has endured in decades, has resulted in a loss of 5.7 million jobs since it began in December 2007. The unemployment rate hit a 25-year high of 8.9 percent in April.

Fewer people working means less being paid into the trust funds for Social Security and Medicare.

The Congressional Budget Office recently projected that Social Security will collect just $3 billion more in 2010 than it will pay out in benefits. A year ago, the CBO had projected that Social Security would have a much higher $86 billion cash surplus for the 2010 budget year, which begins Oct. 1.

The trustees report projected that Social Security’s annual surpluses would “fall sharply this year,” then remain at a reduced level in 2010 and be lower in the following years than last year’s projections. The report said that the Social Security annual surplus would be eliminated entirely in 2016, reflecting increased demands from the wave of 78 million baby boomers retiring.

That means Social Security will have to turn to its trust fund to make up the difference between Social Security taxes and the benefits being paid out beginning in 2016. The trustees projected the trust fund would be depleted in 2037, four years earlier than the 2041 date in last year’s report.

At that point, the annual Social Security taxes collected would be enough to pay for three-fourths of current benefits through 2083. To tap the trust fund, the government would have to increase borrowing or raise taxes because Social Security bonds exist only as bookkeeping entries.

While the government is obligated to redeem those bonds, it has already spent the excess Social Security collections over the years to fund general government operations, providing the trust funds with IOUs.

While the smaller surpluses that will begin this year will not have any impact on Social Security benefit payments, the government will need to borrow more at a time when the federal deficit is already exploding because of the recession and the billions of dollars being spent to prop up a shaky banking system.

Medicare’s condition is more precarious, reflecting the pressures from soaring health care costs as well as the drop in tax collections.

Obama on Monday praised the pledge by the health care industry to achieve $2 trillion in savings on health care costs over the next decade, but it was unclear how much help those pledges would be in achieving Obama’s goal of extending coverage to some 50 million uninsured Americans. The administration is pushing Congress to pass legislation in this area this year, preferring to tackle health care before Social Security.

The trustees report is likely to set off renewed debate over Social Security and Medicare. Critics have charged that the Obama administration has failed to tackle the most serious problems in the budget — soaring entitlement spending.

The administration on Monday revised its federal deficit forecasts upward to project an imbalance this year of $1.84 trillion, four times last year’s record, and said the deficits will remain above $500 billion every year over the next decade.

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer

Acupuncture brought more relief to people with back pain than standard treatments, whether it was done with a toothpick or a real needle, U.S. researchers said on Monday in a study that raises new questions about how acupuncture works

(Getty Images)

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Acupuncture brought more relief to people with back pain than standard treatments, whether it was done with a toothpick or a real needle, U.S. researchers said on Monday in a study that raises new questions about how acupuncture works.

For many patients, that benefit lasted for a year, the team reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

“Our study shows that you don’t need to stick needles into people to get the same effect,” said Dr. Daniel Cherkin of Group Health Center for Health Studies in Seattle, who led the study.

“Historically, some types of acupuncture have used non-penetrating needles. Such treatments may involve physiological effects that make a clinical difference,” Karen Sherman of Group Health, who worked on the study, said in a statement.

The team, wanted to study the effects of different types of acupuncture in a large, carefully controlled study of 638 patients with chronic low back pain.

They divided patients into several groups. One got seven weeks of standardized acupuncture treatment known to be effective in back pain. Another group got an individually prescribed acupuncture treatment.

A third group was treated using a toothpick in a needle guide tube that did not pierce the skin as regular acupuncture does, but targeting the correct acupuncture “points”.

A fourth group just got standard medical treatment, which included medication and physical therapy.

After eight weeks, 60 percent of the patients who got any type of acupuncture reported significant improvement in their ability to function compared with those who got standard medical care alone.

But there was no significant difference in the pain relief people got from the acupuncture using needles or from toothpicks.

The researchers said there is some evidence that even needles were used 2,000 years ago in acupuncture treatment, and some imaging studies have shown that “superficial and deep needling of an acupuncture point elicited similar blood oxygen level-dependent responses,” the team wrote.

Another study even found that lightly touching the skin can induce some emotional and hormonal reactions, which could explain the benefit, they wrote.

Or, it may simply be the experience of visiting an acupuncturist for treatments that helps.

(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Editing by Maggie Fox and Cynthia Osterman)

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter by Steven Reinberg
healthday Reporter – 45 mins ago

MONDAY, May 11 (HealthDay News) — Confirmed cases of H1N1 swine flu in the United States climbed to more than 2,500 by Monday, and the U.S. now surpasses Mexico as the country most affected by the outbreak, according to World Health Organization figures.

The number of deaths in the United States linked to the illness rose to three over the weekend, with health officials in Washington state reporting late Saturday that an unidentified man in his 30s had succumbed to the infection.

In a state Department of Health news release, officials said the man, who had an underlying heart condition, died last week with what appeared to be complications from the swine flu, the Associated Press reported.

The man’s death came after two prior fatal U.S. cases of swine flu: a 33-year-old woman in Texas, and a Mexican toddler who had been treated at a Texas hospital. Both of those individuals also had chronic underlying medical conditions.

The swine flu count in the United States now stands at 2,532 confirmed cases in 44 states, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Sunday. On Saturday, CDC officials said those numbers included 104 hospitalizations. The vast majority of cases are mild, however.

“We had expected more cases and we are continuing to find them,” Dr. Anne Schuchat, interim deputy director for science and public health program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a Saturday teleconference.

The jump in confirmed cases is partly due to the reduction in the backlog of testing for infections. But the number of confirmed cases is probably an underestimation of the total number of actual cases as the virus continues to spread, Schuchat said.

“Transmission here in the U.S. is ongoing. This is a very easily transmittable virus,” she said. “Fortunately, the severity of illness that we’re seeing, at this point, doesn’t look as terrible as a category-five pandemic or the severely devastating impact some had feared. But influenza viruses are unpredictable and can change over time. Going forward, it’s really important to us that we pay attention to how this virus may or may not change.”

Because the new swine flu virus is a highly unusual genetic mix of bird, flu and human viruses, health officials worry that it could continue to mutate and return in a more virulent form for next winter’s flu season.

And, while most of the infections continue to cause only mild illness, similar to the seasonal flu, and virtually all patients recover quickly and fully, federal officials warned Friday that the swine flu outbreak in the United States is far from over.

“I want to address an issue that’s been concerning me, that has to do with a sense of having dodged a bullet, a sense that this is over,” Dr. Richard Besser, the CDC’s acting director, said during a Friday teleconference. “While we have seen a lot of encouraging news in terms of severity, we continue to see hundreds and hundreds of new cases each day,” he said.

While the swine flu — technically known as the H1N1 virus — is similar to seasonal flu, there are some important differences, Besser said. “One thing we are seeing, unlike seasonal flu, a higher percentage seem to be having vomiting and diarrhea,” he said.

Besser said last week that most new cases of swine flu in the United States are now caused by person-to-person transmission and not some link to Mexico, as was the case when the outbreak began more than two weeks ago. Mexico is believed to be the source of the outbreak.

Testing has found that the swine flu virus remains susceptible to two common antiviral drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza, according to the CDC.

So far, U.S. deaths linked to swine flu occurred in individuals with multiple underlying health problems, according to a CDC report released Thursday by the New England Journal of Medicine.

On Saturday, health officials in Costa Rica reported the first swine flu-related death in that country — a 53-year-old man who also suffered from diabetes and heart disease. The death marked the first swine flu-linked death outside North America, according to the AP.

U.S. health officials last week said the outbreak of swine flu appears similar to the seasonal flu in its severity, so schools across the nation should remain open and any schools that did close should reopen.

On Monday, the World Health Organization was reporting 4,694 confirmed cases of swine flu in 30 countries, with Canada, Spain and the United Kingdom having the most cases outside of the United States and Mexico.

Japan and Australia reported their first cases of swine flu on Saturday. And on Sunday health officials reported the first case in mainland China — a man returning from studying at an American university.

Meanwhile in Mexico, the country continued to emerge from a virtual shutdown designed to limit infections. High schools, universities, dance halls, movie theaters and bars have reopened, and primary schools are to reopen this week, the Associated Press reported.

More information

For more on swine flu, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

AMSTERDAM (AFP) – Over-eating, not a lack of exercise, is to blame for the American obesity epidemic, a new study claimed Friday, warning that physical activity could not fully compensate for excess calories.

“There is no evidence that a marked reduction in physical activity has been a contributor to this epidemic in the United States,” study leader Boyd Swinburn told AFP on the sidelines of an international obesity conference in Amsterdam, where the research was unveiled.

“The increase in energy intake… virtually explained all of the weight gain.”

Swinburn, a professor at the health faculty of Australia’s Deakin University, said American children had grown on average four kilogrammes (nine pounds) heavier over the past three decades with adults putting on an extra eight kgs (17 pounds).

The study calculated what Americans should weigh today based on their current, higher food intake, and comparing this to their actual weight.

If they weighed more than projected, this would suggest a drop in physical activity.

In fact, researchers found that American adults weighed less than could be expected from their diet, “which means that if anything over that period of time, the adults had been increasing their physical activity, not decreasing,” said Swinburn.

Among children, the tests yielded a 100 percent match, leading researchers to conclude that changes in physical activity had had no impact whatsoever on America’s children growing fatter.

The findings would “probably be similar” for other developed countries, Swinburn said.

For the US population to return to its leaner, 1970s self, children would have to cut their intake by about 350 calories a day — equal to one can of fizzy drink and a small portion of French fries, and adults by about 500 calories — the equivalent of a Big Mac burger.

Alternatively, children would have to walk for an extra two-and-a-half hours a day, and adults for nearly two hours, said Swinburn.

“Getting everybody to walk an extra two hours a day is not really a feasible option for countering the epidemic,” he said.

“We need to limit our expectations of what an increase in physical activity can achieve.”

Swinburn stressed that the findings did not seek to negate the value of physical activity for weight control and overall health.

“But if we want to influence the underlying drivers (behind obesity), we have to have our eye much more on the energy intake side than on the physical activity side.”

In short, Americans must eat less, he said.

The World Health Organisation estimates that in 2005, about 1.6 billion adults were overweight, of which at least 400 million were obese.

The conference was organised by the European Association for the Study of Obesity.

Source

Ask anyone who knows me: I am a certified java junkie. I’m naturally energetic to begin with, but I rely on my caffeine companion to power me through long days, tough workouts and piles of work. I can even have three cups a day—including a dose after dinner—and still sleep soundly all night. Lucky for me—and the 87 percent of Americans who consume caffeine daily, with the average java drinker gulping down 8 ounces a day—more research is proving that coffee is actually healthy for you. So go on, have that latte without guilt. As if you needed more inspiration, here are some brew benefits to prove that sipping is smart:

It helps you shed pounds

People who drank more metabolism-firing caffeine gained less weight over 12 years than those who cut back on the coffee, say researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. 

It powers your workouts 

Downing coffee and toast between back-to-back workouts can keep you humming, a study from the Journal of Applied Physiology reports. Athletes who drank a caffeinated carbohydrate beverage after cycling had 66 percent more glycogen (an energy reserve) in their muscles than those who had a caffeine-free version. Replenishing glycogen helps you go farther and faster in your next session. Do you run on caffeine?

It helps you wake up refreshed 

Drinking a cup of coffee immediately before taking a 15- to 30-minute catnap can leave you alert and rested after waking up, according to research from The Sleep Research Centre, Loughborough University in Leicestershire, England. Caffeine takes a half hour to kick in, so it will rouse you after a short snooze. Try these tips to sleep your way gorgeous.

It can ward off illness

Increasing your coffee intake may prevent liver cancer, The National Institute of Environmental Medicine in Stockholm, Sweden, finds. Two cups of java daily lowered a person’s risk by 43 percent on average. In another study from University of Minnesota at Minneapolis, women who drank coffee had a 24 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease and other inflammatory conditions. Antioxidants in coffee are likely behind the protective benefits. 

It can ease muscle cramps

Women who had the caffeine equivalent of two cups of coffee the day after their quadriceps were stimulated (as if they’d done squats) felt 48 percent less leg pain within an hour, research from the University of Georgia in Athens reveals. Caffeine may block the body’s receptors for the ouch-causing chemical adenosine, scientists speculate.

It makes cardio feel like a cinch

Women given the caffeine equivalent of about two cups of coffee an hour before cycling reported 40 percent less pain than those who went decaf, according to a study from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Caffeine seems to block neurotransmitters that signal discomfort during exercise, researchers say.

It helps you get want you want

Dealing with a difficult person? Broach a tough topic over a cup of joe. Caffeine may make people more open to persuasion, the European Journal of Social Psychology notes. Researchers say it hones cognitive function, causing skeptics to be more receptive to a convincing case.

It may fight breast cancer

Young women drinking four or more cups of caffeinated coffee daily reduced their breast cancer risk by 40 percent compared with nondrinkers, a study in the Journal of Nutrition finds. The caffeine and polyphenols in regular coffee protect against cancer. Worried about getting the jitters? Even two cups every day can help. And try these risk-reducing recipes as well.

It improves recall!

Caffeine perks up short-term memory, a study from the Medical University of Innsbruck in Austria reveals. One cup of coffee may be all it takes; drink it before a big meeting to be your sharpest.  

Want a delicious, lowfat treat that packs coffee’s powerful punch? Bake up a batch of warm chocolate cakes with coffee creme anglaise.

By Lucy Danziger, SELF Editor-in-Chief