Is caffeine good or bad for you? Ask around and you probably won’t get a consistent answer, and even if the opinion is negative there often won’t be much data to back it up. So what’s the real situation? As with a lot of things in life, it appears as moderation is everything; a small amount of something can be good for you. There’s some evidence that consumption of small to moderate amounts could lower the chances of developing conditions such as cancer, Parkinson’s or even having a stroke. It’s been suggested that certain types of skin cancer can be reduced by up to 20% in women by drinking three or more cups of coffee a day, while a study from a few years ago reported a 2–3x increase in the likelihood of developing Parkinson’s disease in people who don’t drink coffee. Although the science behind it is uncertain to say the least, it is supposed that caffeine may reduce nerve cell degeneration. And the ‘20% in women’ stats comes back again with the risk of strokes, as coffee has been seen to reduce the chance of women suffering from a stroke by around 19% – men, however, don’t appear
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