Archives for May 2013

Cheating Death: Do Coffee Drinkers Live Longer?

May 31, 2013 By Kate Heyhoe

Does coffee drinking cheat death?

Death is inevitable, but a major study shows…

“Coffee drinkers have a lower risk of death.”

I read this twice and still wondered: What exactly does this mean?

“Older adults who drank coffee, both caffeinated or decaffeinated, had a lower risk of death overall than people who did not drink coffee,” says a study sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI, a division of the National Institutes of Health) and AARP.

Coffee drinkers aren’t immortal – and they didn’t necessarily live longer – but they were less likely to die from such common killers as heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, injuries and accidents, diabetes, and infections. (The association was not seen for cancer, at least in this study, but other research shows coffee reduces the risk of certain cancers.)

Bottom line: coffee is safe to drink – that’s the biggest takeaway from this study. And coffee may even benefit your health. You’ll still die, but maybe not as soon.

A Relief for Billions Worldwide

Americans alone consume 400 million cups of coffee per day, so coffee’s health effects are a big deal.

For decades, coffee’s safety has been questioned. Early studies didn’t weed out smokers, who tend to live life on the edge by eating more red meat and few fruits and vegetables, drinking alcohol, and avoiding exercise. Smokers also tend to drink a lot of coffee. (Previous coffee research is also complicated by conflicting results, which may be due to poor methodology, small samples, conflating caffeine and coffee, or for other reasons.)

But unlike early research, the NCI/AARP study is the largest and longest running of its kind. It analyzed coffee-drinking habits of 400,000 men and women aged 50 to 71 – and it controlled for people with poor health habits, known chronic diseases (like cancer), and other data-skewing factors.

The study analyzed the habits of 229,119 men and 173,141 women over 14 years. Respondents completed questionnaires about their diet and health information in 1995 and 1996, and were tracked through 2008; by the end of the study, 52,000 had died.

The Bottom Line

Generally speaking, here’s what the data showed:

• The more coffee consumed, the less likely a person was to die from various common health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, infections, and even injuries and accidents.

• The risk of dying during the 14-year period was 10 percent lower for men and 15 percent lower for women who drank from two to six or more cups of coffee per day, regardless of whether the coffee was caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee.

• Regular, long-term coffee consumption is associated, then, with a lower risk for certain life-threatening diseases. This study doesn’t support cause and effect: it doesn’t show that drinking coffee itself creates better health or longer life. We can’t be sure why the coffee-drinkers had less disease, only that a significant percentage of them did – and that 5-cup a day drinkers had less incidence of disease than the 2-cup a day group.

Coffee has more than a thousand compounds, including caffeine, which has been well-researched but still confounds scientists. The next step, says Dr. Neal Freedman, the study’s lead author, is to explore these compounds to determine their health impact, both singly and in combination.

***

The results of the study were published in the May 17, 2012, edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. You can read the actual study here:

Association of Coffee Drinking with Total and Cause-Specific Mortality

Modern Rush: Ready-to-Drink Tea

May 27, 2013 By Kate Heyhoe

Ready-to-Drink Tea: A $3.5 billion market

Cold, Instant, and On-the-Go: How We Like Our Tea

More Americans go inside convenience stores to buy caffeinated beverages than for any other reason.

The tripod of modern living stands on three legs: Convenience, time-saving, and mobility. Just look at digital devices, fast food, and caffeine. Seattle became famous for its drive-through coffee spots. Coffee is a cash cow for McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts. And now tea is beating out coffee and soda at some cash registers.

Caffeinated drinks – including coffee, iced tea, sodas and energy drinks – are what keep the local mini-mart in business, and what keeps their mobile customers on the go-go-go. Coffee’s hot all year, but in summer, iced tea sales soar.

Instant iced tea was the big 20th century boost for tea. It first entered the consumer market in 1953, and when Lipton Instant Iced Tea arrived in 1958, iced tea really took off.

When Snapple introduced bottled iced tea almost thirty years later, it created a whole new beverage category: Ready-to-Drink tea is now led by brands like AriZona, Fuze, Honest Tea, Sweet Leaf, and the giants Lipton and Nestea.

Bottom line: When tea became instant, sales took off. When it became cold, instant and ready-to-drink, tea joined the ranks of coffee and colas as a powerful caffeinated player – at least in the U.S. In Asia and other substantial portions of the globe, hot tea remains the main caffeinated beverage, but iced tea increasingly appeals to a young, cosmopolitan market.

U.S. Tea Sales Catching Up

Overall, tea is second only to water as the most widely consumed beverage worldwide, a fact often mentioned.

But did you know: More tea is consumed worldwide than coffee, chocolate, alcohol and soft drinks combined. After the American Revolution, tea’s popularity declined severely in the U.S. A hundred and fifty years later, specialty blends gave tea a big boost, especially Constant Comment in 1945 and more recent upscale brands like Republic of Tea and Tazo (now owned by Starbucks). Reports of the health benefits from tea’s antioxidants also kicked up consumption.

According to the Tea Association of the USA:

Approximately 85% of tea consumed in America is iced.
Over the last ten years, Ready-To-Drink Tea has grown by more than 17.5 times. In 2011, Ready-To-Drink sales were conservatively estimated at $3.50 billion
In 2011, over 65% of the tea brewed in the United States was prepared using tea bags. Ready-to-Drink and iced tea mix comprises about one fourth of all tea prepared in the U.S., with instant and loose tea accounting for the balance. Instant tea is declining and loose tea is gaining in popularity, especially in Specialty Tea and coffee outlets.
On any given day, about one half of the American population drinks tea. On a regional basis, the South and Northeast have the greatest concentration of tea drinkers.

As with coffee in the 20th century, the perception of “premium” quality gave tea traction. During the last fifty years, tea has been marketed as a special treat, bringing caffeine, pleasure, and reward to the tea-drinking brain.

So next time you pop into a mini-mart to pay for your gas, take a look at the 53 or so brands of tea in the cooler. Since ready-to-drink iced tea has brought a new level of passion to consumers, you’d be right to say it’s a really “hot” product.

Swirled Matcha-Chocolate Brownies

May 27, 2013 By Kate Heyhoe

An Easy Upgrade: Swirled Matcha-Chocolate Brownies

By Kate Heyhoe

When my chocolate Jones needs a fast fix – and a bigger rush than a chocolate bar can provide – this treat rescues me. It’s the reason why boxed brownie mixes were invented – they deliver a flavor flood that’s quick and also creative, because tinkering with mixes is so easy. (The Cake Mix Doctor’s made a career out of it.)

Matcha tea, that vivid green tea powder with seductive flavor, meets cream cheese in this swirly chocolate brownie. Any chocolate brownie mix works, though super fudgy brownies tend to overpower the matcha. But go with your heart and what’s in your pantry. (And yes, of course you can always make the brownie batter from scratch, instead of a mix.)

The process is simple: Whip up the matcha-cream cheese mixture from scratch, then do the cheat: swirl it on top of the brownie batter, and bake. It takes less than an hour from mix to mouth.

Swirl the matcha batter into the brownie batter

Instructions

Follow the package directions for the brownie mix, including the oven temperature and pan preparation (such as greasing the pan bottom or whatever it says), and baking time. After you’ve poured the batter into the pan, swirl the Matcha-Cream Cheese batter into the top, and bake.

Matcha-Cream Cheese Batter

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 large egg
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon matcha green tea powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Dump all ingredients into a mixing bowl. With an electric mixture (stand or handheld), combine all ingredients. It’s okay if tiny bits of cream cheese remain unblended; I like seeing little white spots poke through the swirl after baking. Let cool. Cut, serve, and swoon.

Swirling tips: Drop clumps of matcha batter on top of brownie batter. Use a knife to draw through the matcha batter and create swirls. If you want green streaks inside the brownies, fold the matcha batter deeper into the brownie layer by rolling the knife down, through, and up.

Ginger Options: If you want to gild the lily, stir 2 tablespoons crystallized ginger into the matcha batter before spreading. You can also mix a teaspoon or so ground ginger into the brownie batter, for twice the ginger flavor.

Swirled Matcha-Brownies take minutes to mix, then bake

S’more Nachos

May 22, 2013 By Kate Heyhoe

S’more Nacho by Kate Heyhoe, from Macho Nachos

Got the munchies? S’more Macho Nachos are fast treats and don’t require an open flame.

From Macho Nachos (Kindle; Apple/iTunes) by Kate Heyhoe

As a Camp Fire Girl, I‘m not sure which part of s’mores I enjoyed more—the process of browning (or more often, blackening) the marshmallows on skewers over an open flame and then smooshing them between chocolate bars and graham crackers, or actually eating them.

S’mores remain a popular treat for kids and a nostalgic one for adults. Nouveau S’mores have been popping up in fine dining restaurants coast to coast. Some establishments actually let you toast your own marshmallows at table over small pots of red-hot coals. Even The French Laundry (which some consider America’s finest restaurant) serves s’mores, albeit with premium Valrhona chocolate, made-from-scratch marshmallows and homemade whole-wheat honey graham crackers.

Not to be outdone by s’more mania, the Macho Nachos version adopts the motto “the s’more the merrier.” Nutty peanut butter, thinned with a touch of maple syrup, “glues” tiny marshmallows and chocolate to a flour tortilla wedge, edged with a border of crunchy, buttery graham cracker crumbs. Just 3 minutes in a hot oven for golden, pillowy, marshmallow treats. One bite and off you go down memory lane—widened and repaved, but nonetheless, a merry pathway back to younger days. Makes one 8-inch flour tortilla; serves 3 to 6

Ingredients

2 tablespoons nutty peanut butter
2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
1 8-inch flour tortilla
Nonstick spray
20 to 30 mini-marshmallows
2 tablespoons chocolate sprinkles or semisweet mini chocolate chips

1. Heat the oven to 475˚F. with an oven rack in the second position, about 7 inches from the top of the oven.

2. In a small bowl, mix together the peanut butter and maple syrup.

3. In a separate small microwave-safe bowl, toss together the graham cracker crumbs and the butter. Microwave on high, 10 to 15 seconds or until the butter is melted enough to mash into the crumbs with a fork; the mixture should resemble coarse sand. (Or, melt the butter and mix it into the crumbs.)

4. Slice a flour tortilla into 6 wedges. Arrange the wedges on a baking sheet. Lightly spritz the wedges with nonstick spray. Flip the wedges over. Lightly spritz the other side.

5. Smear a layer of the peanut butter mixture on top of the wedges. Gently press the marshmallows into the peanut butter. Sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs around the edges of the wedges, as a border. Toss the chocolate sprinkles in between and around the marshmallows.

6. Bake for about 3 minutes, until the marshmallows are toasty and golden on top. The nachos will be very hot, so cool them on the tray 1 or 2 minutes before serving. Serve warm, preferably with tall glasses of cold milk or a hot cuppa joe. Makes one 8-inch flour tortilla; serves 3 to 6

Guarana Soda: Brazil’s National Buzz

May 17, 2013 By Kate Heyhoe

The caipirinha may be Brazil’s national cocktail, but Brazil’s national drink is a carbonated, caffeinated quencher known as guarana soda.

Brazil’s guarana soda industry dates back to 1907, and today is Coca-Cola’s fiercest competitor. Guarana Antarctica is the leading big-name brand, but collectively hundreds of smaller brands, many regionally made, make up more than 50 percent of Brazil’s soft drink market.

The guarana plant itself is more than just a caffeine buzz. It’s a symbol of Brazilian history and pride. It’s also an economic boost, since guarana production helps supply the worldwide energy drink industry with caffeine, which in this case is known as guaranine.

So where does guaranine come from? The substance hails from the seeds of the guarana plant, hence the name. Native to the Amazon basin, guarana vines bear clumps of grape-size, Christmas-red berries and can climb as tall as 35 to 40 feet. When the three-sided guarana fruits ripen, the capsule splits to reveal a black seed poking out of a white aril – they look like arm-length clusters of Muppet eyes. (Native legends say that the first guarana plant sprouted from the eye of an infant god.) Essentially, the seeds are dried, ground, and brewed into tea or processed as an extract.

But how the Amazon tribes cultivate, process and use guarana is far more interesting, as my post on The Children of Guarana explains.

Pop Goes Guarana: Antarctica Competes with Jesus

Commercially grown guarana may not meet the tribal natives’ gold-standard of quality, but it still packs a power punch. Throughout South America, it’s made into guarana-based sodas that tingle the taste buds with their spicy, berry-like flavors. Variations now inundate the North American market. You’ll find guarana in Bawls, Monster, Rockstar, Full Throttle, and other energy drinks, and in many energy shots.

To taste a South American brand, try Brazil’s Guarana Antarctica (find it in Latin markets and online). It was created in 1921, and the canned soft drink has been zipping around the world ever since. It’s Brazil’s most popular soda, after Coca-Cola. (It tastes a bit like ginger ale, if slurped while chewing Double-Bubble gum.)

And speaking of Coca-Cola: The global beverage giant now bottles its own pink, bubbly, bubble-gum-tasting soda known as Guarana Jesus – which is not some weird holy drink, but rather it’s named after its inventor, Jesus Norberto Gomes (a pharmacist who created it in 1920).

The original company was sold to Coca-Cola, which originally sold it in only in its birthplace, the Maranhao state in northeastern Brazil, but now has expanded. Ironically, Jesus (the drink creator, not the Creator) was an atheist and excommunicated by the Catholic Church for assaulting a priest. Humorous ad slogans make the most of the brand identity and have kept the heretical tone alive:

“Abençoe sua sede!” (Bless your thirst!)

“Fé no estômago” (Faith in your stomach)

“Guarana Jesus, porque nem só de pão vive o Homem”

(Guarana Jesus – because man does not live by bread alone)

For more about guarana, check out the Guarana Profile in Caffeine Basics.