Coffee aahaan.........

Today after lunch I felt too sleepy and above all I knew I don’t have any work to do before 5 p.m. it was really very difficult to keep my self awake. Although tried browsing net, peeping in fellow bloggers blog, went through some news sites but still felt drowsy. Then it clicked to me and I went to pantry to make a cup of coffee for me, and lo within seconds my drowsiness was gone and felt fresh. So what’s a big deal to it.

Every one of us know that coffee has high level of antioxidants and used by most of us to come out of fatigue or tiredness, students will definitely agree with me as it helps them to burn their night lamps. So I discovered nothing new :P

but what I did in my free time is I googled for coffee, it’s history, benefits, harms etc. This shows how IT people cannot survive without google search engine at all :D
Jokes apart going through the history I discovered few interesting things which I thought of sharing with you all guys (May be am too late to write and most of you must be knowing it already)
It was discovered even before 13th century and the name coffee was derived from the Arabic term Kahway or Gahwa.
Legend popular about coffee is that there was an Abyssinian goat herder whose name was Khalid. Khalid use to feel drowsy during afternoon due to sun’s effect and he discovered that his goats became hyperactive after eating some berries. So out of curiosity he too tried chewing some, he ate few berries whole and felt hyperactive as his herd, when his wife came to knew about his being energetic instead of normally exhausted one while returning back home she asked for the same and on knowing the reason for the same she urged his to share his wonderful discovery with local holy men in monastery. The chief monk their did not felt happy at Khalid’s discovery and declared the berries as “The work of the Devil”. He took berries from Khalid and threw them in the fire to banish their offending presence. Soon the room got filled with delicious aroma of roasted berries, and other monks too gathered there to discover the new delight.
The chief monk then picked up those smoldering berries, dissolved it in water and instructed other monks to take a sip of it. As soon as they drank it, they felt good and experienced clarity. The brew was proclaimed a miracle and was then used to keep them awake during their evening prayers.

According to another legend (The Arabian legend of Omar the Dervish) it is popular that Omar was well known for his ability to cure sick through prayers and medicines. Although not everyone agreed to this and eventually his enemies forced him to wander in the desert outside Yemenite port of Mocha. In his starvation days he happen to stumble over a bush with berries. Thinking it to be good sign by God he tried to eat those berries, but they were very bitter in taste, so he decided to roast them and placed them in boiling water, still he found beans were very bitter, so he drank the potion and he miraculously recovered his strength back. The word spread about Omar’s magic potion and people took his survival as a religious sign. Soon people were spreading word of the restorative powers of this amazing new drink. The plant and its beverage were named Mocha to honor this event, this is how coffee gets its name as mocha . Omar was eventually invited back to Mocha where he was made a saint.
It is believed that coffee plant grew naturally in Ethiopia and was later transplanted in Arabia. Arab people monopolized it. The tribes from Ethiopia doesn’t use it as drink but would wrap these beans in animal fat as their only source of nutrition while on raiding parties. The Turks were the first persons who adopted coffee as a drink but they use to add spices to it as clove, cinnamon, cardamom etc while brewing.
Coffee was introduced to other countries beyond Arabia in much later time as Arabian people took it as delicacy and didn’t allowed it to go anywhere else, they even use to guard its secret as if it is some top secret military plans. Its export was forbidden by Moslem Nation, The coffee actually spreaded illegally. Even in India it was smuggled by one Arab named Baba Budan, he smuggled it to some mountains near Mysore and started a farm there. Early in this century, the descendants of those original plants were found still growing fruitfully in the region.
There is also one belief that some Christians considered coffee as a devil’s drink. Pope Vincent III heard this and decided to taste himself. He found the beverage good that he baptized it saying “coffee is so delicious it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it."
Anyways whatever be the reason, coffee is enjoyed worldwide and is good for health if taken in moderate quantity. Few of its benefits am listing here courtesy research on net
Ø As coffee helps you to keep regular so there is a possibility that it reduces risk of colon cancer by up to 25 percent.
Ø Two observational studies found that regular coffee intake reduced the risk of developing kidney stones
Ø Coffee has a compound called theophylline which acts as a bronchodilator which helps people with asthma to have up to 25 percent lesser symptoms
Ø Coffee may prevent some other diseases like cirrhosis of the liver, Parkinson’s disease, skin cancer and gallstones
Ø Okie one good thing I found on net is and strange too that coffee may help some people to loose weight as it may boost the number of calories you burn per hour by 4% (don’t know how much this point is true :D)
Ø Coffee may help to deal with jet lag also as it helps to shift the body’s natural time cycle after time zone changes as in case of long distance travels. It is recommended to drink coffee in morning when traveling to west and in late afternoon while traveling to east.
Ø Although people with high blood pressure must be careful with caffeine as it can rise up to 5 or even 10 millimeters of mercury. The amount depends on the individual and dose.
Oh I think enough of it, rest if interested read on net courtesy google search :D
I had a great time pass while writing about this and enjoyed writing it while sipping my cup of coffee
So coffee for you too?
Enjoy