Nikki Sommer, a nurse with Key West Surgical Group, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5 FM for Medical Matters this morning.
Here’s some good news for the fans of coffee – it could help keep people from becoming too sedentary. The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of physical activity each week for good health.
Sommer said, “It just shows you that there’s a better outcome for people who do drink coffee as opposed to people that just sit around all day and don’t drink coffee.”
Being inactive has been linked to cardiovascular disease related deaths.
Sommer said, “And even increases a person’s health risk for type two diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, osteoporosis, cancer and heart disease. This, I think comes with more and more people are sedentary because we sit for work, we sit in front of a computer. Kids are just sitting playing video games, are on the phones. So that’s what I think preempted them to look into this study.”
The study shows that sitting more than eight hours a day was linked to increase rates heart disease related mortality. Those who drank the most coffee appeared to have reduced mortality risk compared to those who do not drink coffee.
Michael Stapleford of KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM exclaimed, “Yay!”
Sommer laughed, “And you get your 150 minutes of exercise. You’re on the right track.”
Data was analyzed from 10,700 participants from 2007 to 2018. Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world among the US population and growing evidence suggests regular coffee consumption can reduce morbidity and mortality.
Sommer said, “There are certain coffees, they do have antioxidant properties. It says researchers also reported non coffee drinking participants who sat for more than six hours a day were 1.6 times more likely to die from all causes of mortality, as opposed to coffee drinkers who sat for less than six hours a day.”
Coffee also reduces risk of metabolic syndrome, which aggravates inflammation.
Sommer said, “When they looked at the study, this this doctor from California, she said, we’ve got to be careful with the relationship between coffee and cardiovascular disease. What this means is they’ll probably do more studies to see what the tie in. But it is evident that people who drink coffee have a lower mortality risk than people who don’t and sit for long periods of time. So tips for adding coffee to your diet, caffeine is a stimulant. So if you have health problems, you need to discuss this with your doctor. If you don’t drink coffee, and you’re listening, you’re like, oh, maybe I should start now, but have health problems. You really need to clear that with your physician before we say drink coffee, a pot a day? No, that’s not what we’re saying. The other thing with coffee is what people put in it. Those creamers that are full of sugar if you’re a diabetic, that’s a no no. I know they make some zero sugar ones. If you add regular sugar to your coffee, it depends on what you’re adding to your coffee, it can take away the beneficial properties of the coffee.”
Three to five eight ounce cups of coffee a day is about 400 milligrams of caffeine.
Sommer said, “When you’re drinking five cups of coffee a day, you’re splitting that caffeine up. I mean unless you’re just drinking right out of the pot.”
Stapleford said, “Coffee has kind of gotten a bad rap from time to time here. They’re saying antioxidants and promoting a non sedentary lifestyle is a good thing. Also providing mental clarity and acuteness. I can definitely tell the difference when I’ve had a cup of coffee.”
What are the downsides?
Sommer said, “I do work for two doctors and we do see a lot of patients with GERD or acid reflux. So that is one of the side effects. It irritates the lining of your stomach and can cause acid reflux or GERD is the medical term. Just like caffeine is a stimulant like I said, if certain people can’t tolerate it, it can increase anxiety, jitteriness, heart palpitations, and it can also interfere with homocysteine levels which is like a cardiometabolic marker. So you’ve got to be careful. You have to know what your history is and how you feel. If caffeine makes you jittery or anxious, or gives you acid reflux you need to probably not drink it or drink as much.”
How can you move more every hour every day? Caffeine can be a motivator.
Sommer said, “I mean it definitely can be a motivator. But again, if you can’t have caffeine and you do sit for longer than six to eight hours a day just right there you can start by not sitting for that long and incorporating some exercise in your daily life.”
Another way to help your body is with the PicoSure laser.
Sommer said, “There’s a funny TikTok going around of me doing a laser tattoo removal. The client came in and asked if we could do a TikTok and we did. So it’s very fun. I’m getting a lot of fun feedback from it. You’ve got to check it out.”
For more information, click here: https://www.keywestsurgicalgroup.com/