Grab your mug and fill it up. Just in time for the chilly mornings coming our way, a new study of more than 40,000 healthy Germans confirms, yet again, that drinking coffee has health benefits. In this study, those who drank at least three cups a day of regular or decaffeinated coffee were about 25 percent less likely to develop diabetes over the next nine years as people who drank little or no coffee. Hallelujah! A cup, or three, of coffee each day is one health habit I can wholeheartedly endorse. While coffee has already been found to offer some protection from Parkinson’s disease and gallstones, most of us aren’t drinking it because it’s so healthy. We simply need it to rev up our sleepy selves for the day ahead.
But there’s a limit to what coffee can accomplish. Lately it seems more and more otherwise healthy women — often juggling a career and kids — have been telling me how utterly tired they are. In our special section this issue, Dawn Picken takes an in-depth look into what may be causing all that fatigue — and finds ways to energize your life.
One place where coffee is indispensable is on the worksite, where America’s construction workers build new buildings and renovate old ones. These (mostly) guys need to be alert, as it can be dangerous work. On-the-job injuries and deaths are down in Washington state over the past decade, and Joe O’Sullivan has a report on a new program we can thank. No, it’s not free coffee; it’s an innovative new workplace safety program happening right here.
Still, you better have another cup of coffee — just to be safe.
To your health!
