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#SkinishMom Investigates Coffee for Beauty Skin

Coffee. I have a love and fear relationship to it. 

Not love and hate. It’s impossible to hate coffee. I would sign off with ‘Chill with (Ice) Latte’, ‘Toast to Latte’ instead of XOXO. I’d rather sit in silence with my coffee than talk to my husband, so it’s totally untrue that women need to speak 20,000 words, maybe if they don’t have coffee to sip.

So on Jan 20, there’s a study published in JNCI (Journal of the National Cancer Institute) that if you drink 4 or more cups of coffee a day, you’re 20% less likely to get malignant melanoma (skin cancer). So does this conclude coffee is good for skin? Not so fast my fellow coffee drinkers, #SkinishMom knows coffee is diuretic and starts fearing when even a well-known doc said she’s cutting coffee. So, #SkinishMom is here to investigate coffee and SKIN.

Skinish Mom Coffee Skin Health

Top Question – Is Coffee Good for Skin?

No. It’s diuretic, meaning it makes you pee more and takes water from your body, including your skin.

No. It inhibit nutrient absorption, including magnesium, calcium, vitamin B & D, folate,  and iron.

No, its effect on cellulite is temporary. If you’ve read about caffeine products making puffy eyes or cellulite go away, it’s mostly due to temporary constriction of fat cells. Nothing has really changed. (this is from Dr Jessica Krant’s interview and read here for her interview with MarcieMom on face washing).

Yes. It is rich in antioxidants, that fight inflammation and free radicals. (read more from Dr David Katz’ reply on Oprah)

We also want to know – Is Coffee Good for Health?

There’s no point in taking something good for one part of you but kills the others. Remind me of loving the wrong man, but that’s much worse.

More reasons to Love Coffee

Lowers risk of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, depression, non-alcohol related liver disease. Improves fitness endurance, hair growth and memory.

More Fear Coffee factors

Increased risk of high blood pressure (cafestol in coffee beans possiblyraise LDL cholesterol), miscarriage, osteoporosis, anxiety, insomnia and many more from Dr Mercola.

But what’s in Coffee?

Coffee beans apparently is like one complicated super woman. As Mark Hyman, MD said

.. coffee has far reaching effects on the body and needs to be respected as a potent drug.

Coffee has so many biologically active compounds, it’s a lot more than just caffeine. There’s polyphenols, antioxidants, chlorogenic acids, caffeol, phytoestrogens and diterpenes. No one yet know how each affects our body.

This brings me to the next question – what Type of Coffee are we talking?

There’s a HUGE difference between espresso coffee and instant 3-in-1 coffee. The latter is likely mostly unknown chemicals with sugar and trans fat (partially hydrogenated oil) topping the ingredient list, promoting inflammation. And given that per cup, instant premix has less coffee than brewed coffee, whatever anti-inflammatory benefits you think you drink from the antioxidants likely get wiped out by the inflammatory sugar, glucose syrup, frutose syrup and trans fat.

Lastly, this one is no-brainer. Just because something may have protective effect doesn’t mean you go out of your way to do something to test its level of ‘protection’. If an insurance agent tells you you’re covered for critical illness, you don’t go out of your way to eat junk food (or do you?). Here’s the sun protection you should take.

Finally, remember. This study is not a clinical trial, meaning not cause and effect. It’s association. Lots of things are associated with other things.

Signing off with latte,

#SkinishMom

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