Coffee

I think quite a lot of people believe coffee is unhealthy, however, it is actually quite the opposite. I started drinking coffee last spring since I learned how many benefits it actually has and how it can lower the risk for a list of diseases. We talked often about coffee on the herb course I took (did I ever mention I finished - and passed it about a month ago by the way?) and looked at many interesting research articles that showed how good coffee actually is. It can be dangerous to drink too much but 3-5 coffee cups per day is a good dose for preventing a lot of diseases. Here are a few benifits:

• To put it simple - Coffee is good for the digestion. Coffee stimulates the production of gastrin and CCK which are digestive hormones. Gastrin stimulates the production of gastric acid (which stimulates production of other digestive hormones as well that has other benefits) which stimulates growth of the mucous membrane of the stomach, small intestine and colon. CCK will help the gallbladder to release bile (so that it can release toxins from the liver as well as digest fat) and it makes the intestines motility work better. 
• Coffee intake is associated with lower rates of liver disease progression in chronic hepatitis C
• An increased consumption of coffee may reduce the risk of liver cancer
• Coffee contains a lot of antioxidants (reduces oxidative stress etc.)
• Lower risk for heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, diabetes and infections (N Engl J Med. 2012 Jul 19:367(3):285)

If you don't have a gallbladder then coffee is not that good to drink because of the increased production and release of bile.