Free Advice: Drink More Coffee! by Mickey J. Corrigan

 

Free Advice: Drink More Coffee!

by Mickey J. Corrigan

 

This is free advice so be forewarned. But from the research I've been looking at, it's okay—in fact, it's healthy—for us writers to be sucking down the java while we push ahead on our writing projects. According to the medical experts, our coffee indulgences may be helping us to live longer…so we can torture ourselves for additional years as we churn out our novels, short stories, blog posts and essays.

I guess this is good news.

As an admitted coffee addict, I've been pleased with the latest data on the benefits of my favorite beverage. I'm only talking about the beverage, not caffeine, the chemical in coffee that acts as a nervous system stimulant to rev up body and mind. Because caffeine is only one of the many chemicals that make up coffee, there are a thousand-plus others. And it's the combination of these chemicals, many of which have yet to be identified, that may be fostering good health and longevity.

Coffee contains riboflavin, an important B-vitamin, and magnesium, an essential mineral. It also has plant polyphenols and other such chemicals offering possible health benefits. Drinking coffee can subdue appetite, meaning you may eat less and keep your weight in a desirable range. (This applies to black coffee, not fancy sweetened coffee drinks.) And it can give you added energy to endure longer exercise periods.

What's not to like?

As recently as the 1990s, however, doctors were advising us to avoid coffee as a potential carcinogen. I ignored their advice, and am glad of that as more reliable studies have shown that coffee is not a carcinogen. In fact, coffee intake actually reduces the risk for certain cancers.

And there's more that coffee can do for us.

If you want to go to the source (The Source) for your nutrition information, you can read what Harvard University's esteemed Department of Nutrition has to say. I do, and I did, and they're on board with the recent peer-reviewed and scientifically vetted studies that show regular coffee intake may do the following:

·        Minimize inflammation, a contributing factor in cancer and other diseases

·        Reduce your risk of colon, endometrial, and liver cancer

·        Improve insulin resistance

·        Reduce your risk of developing type-2 diabetes

·        Reduce your risk for heart attack and stroke

·        Reduce your risk for developing Parkinson's disease

·        Reduce your risk for developing gallstones

·        Reduce your risk for depression

·        Reduce your risk of suicide (!)

·        Possibly prevent late-life dementia and Alzheimer's disease

·        Extend your life span

This is an impressive list of benefits. And most seem to accompany a moderate daily intake, which translates to 3 to 5 cups of coffee. Who can't drink that in a day?

Doctors do warn people with high blood pressure and pregnant women to avoid drinking coffee. But there's always decaf, and most of the benefits in the list above exist for decaf drinkers as well. So if you suffer from caffeine-induced insomnia or you have the jitters after too much Columbian Joe, you can substitute decaf and still accrue health benefits.

Knowing this has helped me write more. Or write for longer. Or maybe just feel better about how much coffee it takes to get through the day's slog.

 About the Author

Mickey J Corrigan

Originally from Boston, Mickey J. Corrigan writes tropical noir with a dark humor. Novels include Project XX about a school shooting (Salt Publishing, UK, 2017) and What I Did for Love, a spoof of Lolita (Bloodhound Books, UK, 2019).

Social media links:

www.mickeyjcorrigan.com

http://mickeyjcorrigan.tumblr.com/
https://www.goodreads.com/Mickey_J_Corrigan

 

Me Go Mango Anthology: Two Women Find Their Bad Selves 

Two novellas in one fun anthology: a group of college friends revisit their past, and a young woman gets a job that launches her into a very surprising future. Who doesn’t want a chance to rewrite their past?

ME GO MANGO
Erin Monahan reformed her bad girl ways, only to discover the good girl act can’t save her marriage. Hiding out in a love hotel with a bottle of Two Buck Chuck, she calls for reinforcements. Her college friends organize a weekend reunion in small town Vermont.

Ellen has money from suspicious sources. Maggie seems perfect, but she's got a big dark secret. And Sandy's a mess—plus she's hiding something. When Ellen proposes the four of them go in on a business venture, a retreat for middle-aged bad girls, Erin thinks she’s crazy.

Then Erin meets Roberto, a hot Cuban chef. Soon she decides she doesn’t want the mango to end.

DREAM JOB
After Adrianna sleeps with her hunky boss, she has to face him every day at the office. She has to test the company’s software with him in the office hot tub. She has to ignore the fact that she’s fallen madly in love with him—but is her infatuation only a dream?

To make Adrianna's life in tropical Florida even more confusing, Davis, a geeky guy from her past, is stalking her—but only in the murky dream world they appear to share.

Something strange is happening to Adrianna. And it’s making her wonder about her dreams. Could it be that dreams are the entry way to another world? A real world? A hyperreal world?

Available from Amazon and Champagne Books.