Month: February 2012

Coffee

Don’t Worry! Coffee is Not Going to Hurt Your Heart

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My Coffee cup with Starbuck’s French Roast

Wow, am I relieved!

Coffee has a bad reputation when it comes to heart health, while tea is generally accorded special healing properties. We have good news for both coffee and tea drinkers: neither is bad for the heart.

Interest in the links between coffee and health is not new. In 17th-century Europe, coffee was thought to aid digestion and gout but cause impotence and paralysis — not a favorable trade-off, and also not correct. Today the coffee-health question focuses on the heart.

While some scientists have suggested that coffee might be bad for the heart, others (probably coffee drinkers) have repeatedly rebutted their findings. Among people who are not habitual coffee drinkers, the caffeine from two cups of coffee increases blood pressure by two to three mm Hg. This effect is short-lived and is usually absent among those who drink coffee regularly. Coffee can cause a temporary increase in heart rate, but it is an uncommon cause of abnormal heart rhythms. Boiled or unfiltered coffee contains oils that may increase total and LDL cholesterol levels, but these chemicals are removed by the filtering process, so most coffee has no effect on cholesterol. Finally, some studies suggest that coffee contributes to arterial stiffness. However, other research suggests that two cups of coffee per day actually causes arteries to relax.

In studying the health effects of coffee, cardiologists have focused on hypertension. Coffee does not cause high blood pressure. If you have high blood pressure and you like coffee, you can continue to drink it. Turning to the heart, large studies demonstrate no increased risk of coronary heart disease among coffee drinkers, whether they prefer regular coffee or decaf. While we have no prospective, randomized comparative studies examining cardiac outcomes over 10 to 20 years among people assigned to drink coffee or another beverage, there is enough evidence for us to conclude that coffee does not cause heart disease and that it can be part of a heart-healthy diet.

Guess, I will celebrate with another cup!

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Los Angeles Marathon

Los Angeles Roadrunners Run/Walk 5 at Dodger Stadium – February 4, 2012

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Los Angeles Dodger Stadium and the congregating Los Angeles Roadrunners

The training for the Los Angeles Marathon on March 18th this week was HILL training – meaning running the hills around Dodger Stadium. The course was a little over 5K and Run/Walk 5 ran the course three times, reversing the order each time.

Here is head pace leader Walt’s blog piece on the run.

Now, for my photos:

Director of Training of the LA Roadrunners, Rod Dixon (see his first place finish in the New York City Marathon below)

Tara, my running partner and I separated and I ran with the main group for 2- 5K cycles and met up with her for a two mile walk around Dodger Stadium.

Tara and me

Here is my wife, Alice and me prior to the run ( I ran with her for the first two cycles):

After running, sometimes you feel you have the world (or at least downtown Los Angeles) in your own palms:

Here are Joel and Minerva who met at run/Walk 5 last LA Marathon season and now run together. Who says there is NO love in running?

After running, the group headed over to Walt’s office where we enjoyed bagels, eggs, sausages and good company.

Walt and Alice

Did I mention the bagels?

No cream cheese for me though, Minerva

Nancy, one of the Ronnie’s Diner gang and R/W 5 Pace Leader

Mary who is REALLY smiling because she was working with a former U.S. Senator last week. Mary is also a Ronnie’s gang member and R/W 5 Pace Leader

Here are some more photos and the rest, I promise, I will post on Flickr, Picasa and Facebook.

Kristi

Tara and Maria Elena

Back to the beach (Venice Beach and Santa Monica) next Saturday and a 20 mile long run. March 18th is fast approaching.
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