I know I have been going overload on chocolate dessert recipes in the past few post so here is something that does not involve chocolate. Instead, it has apples and though not much healthier or any less sinful, but I guess not as sinful as the chocolate desserts.

I had posted an apple and blueberry crumble recipe before this and also an apple crisp recipe, this recipe is almost similar but it is much simpler with less ingredients. It is a recipe where you just use very few basic ingredients and come up with absolutely delicious golden crumbly apple crumble.

All you really need are butter, apples, sugar and flour. Simple and easy.

The first step is to rub the butter into the flour and then add the sugar and mix thoroughly to come up with the crumbly, golden mixture above.

Then, you peel, core and cut the apples into small slices and bake them for about 10 minutes so that they are half-cooked and semi-soft.

After that, you pour the crumbly mixture on top.

Then, you pop it into the oven and bake. Simple, easy and no hassle.

Here’s the recipe proper:

Simple, Easy Apple Crumble Recipe

Ingredients

4 large apples

50g unsalted butter

100g flour

1 tsp baking powder

50g sugar

Instructions

1. Peel, core and slice apples into thin slices and place on baking pan. Bake in the oven at 190°C for about 10 minutes, remove and put aside.

2. While the apples are baking, rub butter into the flour until crumbly.

3. Add the sugar and mix thoroughly.

4. Sprinkle the flour mixture on top of the baked apples until it fully covered the apples.

5. Place in the pre-heated oven and bake at 190°C for about 30 minutes.

Best serve warm or with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

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I know, I know…another chocolate dessert recipe but it is the mooncake festival anyway. And I don’t know why but I wanted to try my hands at baking my own mooncakes again. Last year’s chocolate mooncakes were a disaster when I brushed on too much egg glaze and the mooncakes looked horrible although it tasted absolutely heavenly.

So, this year, I baked the regular plain mooncakes and a batch of chocolate mooncakes too. You can find the recipes in my recipes page. Again, this year, I bought the ready-made fillings of lotus paste, chocolate paste and red bean paste. No point wasting hours cooking the fillings when there are really good ones that we can buy. Besides, they even have sugar free lotus-paste  fillings which I could give to my diabetic grandma.

Anyway, this year, I went easy on the egg glaze and got really chocolatey and nice looking mooncakes.

See? A real improvement compared to last year’s horrid looking ones.

Baked mooncakes are a real time-consuming process as you have to allow for ‘resting’ time of about 10 hours for the raw ingredients before we can wrap the fillings and bake it.The first process is to mix together baking soda, golden syrup, alkaline water and oil in a mixing bowl and then let it rest for about 5 hours.

Then, I sift the flour and cocoa powder together and leave aside until the first ingredients are ready. After five hours, I add some chocolate essence and then fold in the flour into the brown liquid mixture to form a smooth, sticky dough.

Again, I have to let the dough rest for another 6 hours or so. Only after that that I divide the dough into small portions, flatten it and wrap it around the fillings into a ball. Then I push the ball into the plastic moulds I bought last year.

Then I pop those mooncakes into the oven for about 10 minutes. Remove and let it cool for 5 minutes and then brush on the egg glaze and then bake another 3 minutes.Then I get these:

Some of the sizes vary a bit because by the time I waiting 11 hours for the dough to be ready, it was already midnight and let me tell you, moulding mooncakes in the middle of the night is not exactly very accurate when it comes to the size.

Here’s the recipe:

Baked Chocolate Mooncakes Recipe

Ingredients A

400g golden syrup

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tbsp alkaline water

100g corn oil

Ingredients B

450g plain flour, sifted

100g cocoa powder, sifted

Other ingredients

1 tsp chocolate essence

1.5 kg of ready-made lotus paste/ chocolate paste/ red bean paste

Instructions

1. Mix ingredients A in a mixing bowl and let it rest about 5 hours.

2. Sift ingredients B together.

3. After 5 hours, add the chocolate essence to the ingredients A and stir will combined. Then fold in ingredients B. Mix it together until you get a smooth sticky dough. Set aside for another 6 hours.

4. Divide the dough into small balls, about the size of a ping pong ball or smaller depending on the size of your moulds, and then flatten it on a floured surface using a rolling pin. Scoop a generous dollop of fillings onto it and wrap the skin around it.

5. Push the wrapped dough into the floured mould and then gently push it out using the lever (if you are using a wooden mould, then gently knock it out).

6. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the moulded mooncakes on a floured baking pan and bake between 8 to 10 minutes.

7. Remove from oven and let it cool for about 5 minutes. Then, lightly brush it with some egg glaze to give it some glossy shine. Bake for another 3 – 5 minutes.

8. Once done, remove from oven and let it cool before removing from the baking pan.

Egg Glaze Recipe

Ingredients

1 egg yolk

1/2 tbsp water

a pinch of salt

Instructions

Mix it all together in a bowl and use a pastry brush to lightly brush it on the mooncakes.

Other Mooncake Baking Tips You Should Know:

1. Never over-bake your mooncakes or else it will go out of shape (as I also experienced that last year). So, if your oven is of a higher wattage, bake it for less than 10 minutes, maybe at 8 minutes and after putting the egg glaze, you bake it for another 2 to 3 minutes.

2. Never keep the mooncakes in an airtight container immediately after it has cooled down. It is always best to leave it out in the open, preferably overnight for the skin to soften. You don’t want dry, hard mooncake skin!

3. The golden syrup is important because it is what keeps the mooncake from becoming mouldy (as in fungi growth) too fast.

4. Even with the golden syrup, these are homemade mooncakes so they don’t last as long as commercial mooncakes which may contain added preservatives sp it is best to keep them in a dry cool place and don’t keep for too long.

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Honestly, I’ve never even heard of Batik Cake until a friend raved about how great and rich and nice and all that to me. It sure did piqued my interest. The best of it is that it is a non-bake cake. It’s one of those cook over the stove, stir, pat into pan and refrigerate type of cake.

Considering I have been limiting my baking activities because I was not in the mood much nowadays, I thought heck, why not? A non-bake cake with loads of cocoa in it sounds simple and good enough.

The reason it’s called Batik Cake is pretty obvious looking at it. It looks like Batik pattern. I think it originated from East Malaysia, well, that’s what I found out when sifting through the numerous recipes available and custom-making it to suit my own taste.

As easy as it sounds, it actually turned out to be quite a lot of work too. But the end result told me it is worth all the work. The ingredient calls for rich tea biscuits (or Marie biscuits), sugar, butter, eggs, cocoa and fresh milk.

First, you smash up the rich tea biscuits into small pieces. This is a good time to let go of any frustrations or stress you have. Just imagine smashing the head of the person who had irritated you. What? The biscuits won’t feel a thing. It is a great stress reliever. Really…okay, if you are all serene and at peace with the world, you can always use the food processor to do the ‘dirty’ work.  Then set it aside for later.

Next, you pour the sugar (I use brown sugar but you can always use regular white sugar), eggs, milk and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl and use a whisk to combine it all together.

Place a pan on the stove, dump the butter in and melt it over low heat. You don’t want to burn it or anything. Then, when it is all melted, you pour in the milk, eggs, flour, sugar and cocoa mixture. Let the mixture cook over low to medium fire until it has thickened. That should take between 10 to 15 minutes. Oh and remember to stir it all the while or else you may burn it.

It should thicken to this consistency. I know it looks lumpy but it is supposed to be like this. This is because the eggs are cooked, thus the lumpiness. But don’t worry, you won’t taste any lumpiness when you eat it later.

Then, you stir in the smashed tea biscuits. By that, I meant, really stir in. Mix it all up really, really well.

Make sure each tiny piece of biscuit is really covered in the thick cocoa mixture.

Then, you can spoon the thick mixture into a pan lined with greaseproof paper and pat it in. Don’t worry about hurting it. Really push it all in and flatten in. You want it to be compact.

To me, no chocolate cake, bake or non-bake, is complete without a nice chocolate ganache topping which I later add to the top. You can leave this out if you want to. After adding the topping, just put the pan into the fridge and let it set for several hours. It is best serve cold with a nice glass of milk. Yummm…

What does it taste like? Well, the tea biscuits gave it a slightly salty, biscuit-y flavour and the chocolate, oh, the chocolate is darn good. It’s like having rich chocolate covered tea biscuits, except better. Much, much better.

Now, here’s the recipe:

Batik Cake Recipe

Ingredients

200g rich tea biscuits (Marie biscuits)

3 eggs

1 cup brown sugar

250g butter

1 cup cocoa powder (optional: you can also use 1/2 cup cocoa powder and 1/2 cup Milo)

1/2 cup fresh UHT milk

Instructions

1. Smash up the rich tea biscuits and set aside.

2. Combine the sugar, eggs, cocoa and milk in a mixing bowl and mix well.

3. Melt the butter in a pan over low fire and then add in the cocoa mixture.

4. Cook the mixture until it thickened. Remove from heat.

5. Stir in the biscuits and mix it well to ensure the biscuits are all covered in the thick cocoa mixture.

6. Spoon the mixture into a pan, pre-lined with greaseproof paper (if you prefer), and press it all in firmly.

7. Spoon the chocolate ganache topping on top and spread it out evenly with a spatula or the back of the spoon.

8. Refrigerate the mixture for several hours, preferably more than 4 hours, and serve it cold.

Chocolate Ganache Topping Recipe

Ingredients

225g good quality dark chocolate, chopped

115ml heavy cream

60g butter

Instructions

1. Melt the butter in a pan over low heat. Add the cream and bring to a boil, careful not to burn it.

2. Pour the butter-cream mixture over the chocolate and stir until melted.

3. The chocolate ganache is ready!

Since I don’t have heavy cream on hand, I didn’t add that but added some icing sugar with more butter and a tablespoon of condensed milk and it turns out pretty okay too. I mostly used non-sweet dark chocolate so the addition of icing sugar did not make it too sweet. However, if you want perfect chocolate topping, do use the heavy cream, it does makes a difference, especially teamed with the batik cake!

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It’s been awhile since I did a food trivia post. Well, since I did loads of fat burning food, foods to prevent cancer, etc, I might as well, do one on foods good for men, as in, you know, to keep things ‘up’ when it’s supposed to be and to keep the prostrate healthy too so that you can maintain the flow when visiting the loo. (be patient, women, I will post a separate one for women’s health later, now just read this and impart it to your husband/father/ brother/ etc)

You know, when a man reach middle age (or even earlier, depending on your health condition), one of the main health problems that could happen is the prostrate problem. It could lead to enlarged prostrate or worse, prostrate cancer. Then, there is also the more embarrassing problem which may end up with you searching for viagra online.

But, you can actually prevent this from happening. You only need to be more selective in your foods and choose foods for prostrate health. There are a lot of foods that are good for prostrate health (and sexual health too) that you can eat on a daily basis to prevent any future suffering of prostrate problems. Here are some of the foods:

Foods good for prostrate health

1. Soy and soy products like tofu

Research has shown that soy food products like soya milk and tofu (beancurd) is really good for prostrate health. Instead of drinking milk, why not substitute it with soy milk? It is healthier and better for your prostrate.

2. Fruits and Vegetables that contain Quercetin and lycopene

This would include vegetables like broccoli, kale and cabbage. Fruits that have this compounds are grapefruit, berries, melons and tomatoes. So, in short, do add more vegetables and fruits to your diet for the sake of your prostrate health. Even red wine is good as it is derived from grapes that has lycopene too, but it is better to eat the grapes than to go for the wine because alcohol is not good for prostrate health.

3. Water and clear vegetable broths

Yes, water is always good for health, especially so for prostrate health because it helps to flush out the toxins in your body and get things going as smoothly as possible. Clear vegetable broths are also good as it is full of nutrients from the vegetables and because it is liquid, it also helps to flush out your kidney and bladder to prevent any possible blockage.

Now, other than consuming the above mentioned foods more regularly, it is important that you try to limit some foods to prevent prostrate problems. Or if you already have a prostrate problem, these are the foods to limit or cut out of your diet completely:

1. Meat  – because this triples your risk of prostrate enlargement

2. Milk – because this doubles your risk (thus, it is better to drink soy milk as substitute which is good for prostrate health)

As with any advice for a healthier lifestyle, do try to cut down your caffeine and alcohol consumption. Instead, drink more herbal caffeine-free teas or water, eat more fruits and vegetables and add grains to your diet for a healthy body, healthy prostrate and no worries of any disappointment between the sheets and you won’t ever need to furtively search for viagra or cialis.

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Who needs to go to Cameron Highlands for some English tea scones when you can make it at home? I am not really a scone fan but then, that’s because I’ve never had really good ones until I tried some really good ones in Cameron Highland’s Ye Olde Smokehouse Hotel. Those are really amazing.

So.

I decided to make it myself. I mean, if I can bake up cakes and cookies, what are scones, right? Right. So, I went searching around the net and found several recipes until I decided to take whatever I feel comfortable with and wing it from there. My main focus is on using the least ingredients and the simplest method. Well, I have to limit my baking time these days as I can’t stand for longer hours nowadays what with a big huge belly and aching back.

And do you know scones are made up of the simplest recipe ever? You only need flour, butter, milk and baking powder. That’s all!

You need to cube the butter and rub it into the flour until crumbly. Then add in the milk.

Knead it into a smooth dough. Then pat into small round shapes (the size depending on you, I like bite-size scones so I made them really small) and place on baking tray. Sprinkle them with some flour and then bake them.

Scones are best eaten with some nice jam and cream.

Oh and yeah, they are damn good hot from the oven!!

Here is the recipe:

Easy English Tea Scones Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup plain flour

40g butter, cubed

1/2 cup milk

3 tsp baking powder

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.

2. Rub the cubed, softened butter into the flour until crumbly.

3. Make a well in the centre and pour in the milk.

4. Mix with a spatula until it forms a soft dough.

5. Take the dough and knead it on a floured surface but don’t over-knead it.

6. Shape it onto small rounds and place on baking tray. Sprinkle with flour.

7. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.

These scones are best enjoyed hot from the oven with some fresh cream and jam.

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Okay, so the past few posts are calorie-loaded, fat-loaded, sinfully wonderful desserts so I think it is only right I put up a comparatively healthier dessert recipe that made its appearance only in recent years. I don’t even know what it’s called but most of the stalls selling this dessert will often label it as Soya Milk Jelly. Well, I would say it is more like a soya milk pudding than anything.

I made it with a can of evaporated milk instead of soya milk since I had that available. It is pretty easy to make actually and does not take up much time, except for the waiting time for it to firm up.

All you really need is sugar, jelly powder, water and milk or soya milk. If you like some canned longans in it, you can also have that ready and open a can.

Get the containers ready, the plastic cups with covers. I use the cup as measurements for the amount of water or sugar needed. I think each cup is about 200ml. So, if you are making 15 cups of pudding, you will need 15 cups of water, 1 cup sugar, half can of the evaporated milk and half packet of the jelly powder. First, you will need to dissolve the jelly powder, bring the 15 cups of water to boil, add the sugar, jelly solution and the milk.

Once it’s cool down, you can pour into the containers.

You then wait for it to really become firm before you add the canned longans and some of the syrup from the canned longans.

Refrigerate and serve cold. It’s great as dessert, tea time snack or for the sake of eating something sweet but not so sinful. The cups I’m referring to here are the containers we use for the pudding. Here’s the recipe and simple instructions:

Soya Milk Pudding Recipe

(This recipe is for 34 servings)

Ingredients

34 cups of water (about 200ml each cup)

3 cups of sugar (300g)

1 can of evaporated milk or soya milk (400g)

1 packet of the jelly powder (as in the picture above or about 50g)

Instructions

1. Dissolve the jelly powder in 200ml of water

2. Heat up the 34 cups of water in a pan.

3. Add the sugar and let it dissolve.

4. Add in the dissolved jelly and the milk or soya milk.

5. Stir over medium heat for about 15 minutes.

6. Remove from heat and leave to cool but before it firms up.

7. Pour into the cups and leave it to firm up.

8. Add the canned longans to each cup, then refrigerate. Serve cold.

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Now that I got your attention…

Another of my favourite dessert definitely has to be brownies. If you search this site, you will probably find that I have two other brownie recipes, a non-bake brownie and the best-ever brownie recipes. Now, what can compete with the best-ever chocolate brownie recipe I had?

Well, if you love peanut butter, you will think this recipe is way better than just chocolate and almonds in the brownies. I mean what is a better combination than peanut butter and chocolate eh? Don’t believe me? Then try it out for yourself.

The beige patch is the peanut butter and of course, one can never enjoy brownies fully without the required ice cream!

Since I put some chocolate ganache topping on it, it is just as good without the ice cream too.

This is a very simple and easy peanut butter chocolate brownie recipe so it can be made in a very short time, about 30 minutes preparation time and then you bake it for about 25 mins and it’s done! Oh, by the way, this is a rather cakey sort of brownie, not the chewy type.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownies

You will only need eggs, sugar, flour, chocolate, butter and peanut butter and you’re all set!

I used three types of sugar: brown sugar, molasses and icing sugar. The icing sugar is to give the brownies a more fudgy texture while the brown sugar and molasses are simply because I like their flavours. You will need to beat the sugar and the eggs together first but not too fluffy. About 1 minute using the handheld mixer.

The brownie batter should be gooey and thick, not too watery. Oh and yes, remember to grease the pan and place a piece of foil if you want it to be easier to remove the brownie from the pan.

And once the brownie is done…pour some nice, delicious chocolate ganache topping. Yummm…

So, here’s the recipe and simple instructions to make these ultra delicious brownies…

Easy Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownies Recipe

Ingredients

120g unsweetened chocolate (or any baking chocolate you want to use), broken into pieces

170g butter

3 eggs

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup molasses

1/2 cup icing sugar

(or you could simply use 2 cups white sugar instead of so many types of sugar)

2 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup flour

1/2 cup chopped almonds

2 tbsp peanut butter

Chocolate Ganache

50g cooking chocolate

1 tbsp cocoa powder

3 tbsp butter

Instructions

1. Grease the pan and line it with foil. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2. Melt the butter and chocolate by putting it in the microwave for about 2 minutes. Leave to cool.

3. Beat the eggs together with the sugar in a mixing bowl but don’t overdo it.

4. Add the eggs mixture to the melted chocolate (make sure the chocolate mixture is not hot or it may cook the eggs!) and then add in the flour, vanilla, almonds and peanut butter.

5. Stir and combine well. Pour into the prepared pan.

6. Bake for about 25 minutes.

For the Chocolate Ganache

It’s best to prepare this after the brownies are done.

1. Melt the chocolate and butter together.

2. Add the cocoa powder.

3. Pour it onto the baked brownies before it hardens.

You can then refrigerate the brownies in an air-tight container and serve it cold with ice cream later. Or you can also heat it up and serve with ice cream for a nice cold and hot combination of chocolate brownies and vanilla ice cream. If you are a real chocoholic like me, dribble some chocolate sauce on top and ahhh….it’s what I’d call heavenly!

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I simply love Oreos. And other than eating them plain, I have come across a recipe for Oreo Truffles a few times before and thought it would definitely be great. So, one day, when the craving strikes, I decided to try making my own Oreo Truffles…

And yes, these aren’t exactly round but of odd shapes…but then who cares? We are eating them and no matter the shape, they are good. Really, really good, if I may say so myself. If you love Oreos and cheese cakes, then these are definitely what you should try!!! These are no normal, plain chocolate truffles I tell you. And it’s pretty easy to make too. No baking required. Just loads of smashing up to do.

Here’s the making of …

Chocolate-covered Cheesy Oreo Truffles

1. First, smash up the Oreos into tiny, teeny pieces or use a food processor to do the work for you, whichever floats your boat.

2. Then, dump in the softened cream cheese and stir to mix well until it is creamy and brown (or again, dump the cheese into the food processor together with the processed cookies and let the machine do it’s magic). Me? I just use the God-given elbow power to do all the work. Since I’m gonna be consuming millions of calories from these babies, I might as well burn up some calories first.

3. Then melt some dark chocolate by popping it into the microwave for a minute or so and then stir.

4. Using a spoon, scoop out the Oreo cream cheese mixture and form into balls. Then dip it into the melted chocolate. You can also dip it in cocoa powder or in those sugar hearts and flowers like I did for some of it. Set it aside on wax paper for the chocolate to set.

And quit thinking that these Oreo Truffles are not even ball-shaped. I know that but I can’t help it okay? It just seem to want to go out of shape. Besides, who cares about the shape when it will end up in your stomach, eh?

After the chocolate has set, you can then place it in containers and then refrigerate it. Once it is fully set and cold, serve as it is. The Oreo Truffles are sweet and salty at the same time and so darn rich, you will absolutely love it! It’s like eating bite-size Oreo cheesecake covered in chocolate. Mmmmm…

Oh, and they aren’t really all that sweet too because I didn’t add sugar and the cream cheese sorta neutralized the sweetness of the Oreos.

Here’s the recipe and simple instructions:

Chocolate Cheesy Oreo Truffles Recipe

Ingredients

2 packets of Oreos (137g each packs)

1 box of cream cheese (I think it’s about 200g), softened

150 g dark chocolate

Instructions

1. Smash up the Oreos or use a food processor to smash it all up

2. Add in the cream cheese and combine really, really well.

3. Melt the chocolate and set aside.

4. Shape balls from the Oreo cream cheese mixture and dip it into the melted chocolate.

5. Place the chocolate covered balls on wax paper to set and then refrigerate. Ready to serve!

Alternatively, you can pour the whole mixture into a bowl, take a spoon and dig right in, don’t even have to bother with making balls or dipping in chocolate…heheheheeheh…

Oh, yeah. This is NOT a diet food. It is high in calories, high in fat, high in whatever so eat at your own risk!

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I posted this entry quite a while back but because at that time, I was moving host for this blog and it somehow got lost in space…so, I am re-posting it.

I have not been able to cook or bake for a few months and finally, after all that horrible fatigue and retching, I am feeling much better to be back in action in the kitchen. My energy level is still not as great as it used to be but still, I am able to cooking up some stuff whenever the mood strikes me.

Anyway, after months of nausea and retching at the smell of any food, I finally had a craving for chocolate cookies. But not the store-bought kind. What I wanted was something rich. Something VERY chocolatey. Something soft-baked and absolutely good to satisfy my craving that no store-bought stuff will ever do. Here’s what I managed to bake up:

These are extremely rich, extremely chocolatey and extremely satisfying. Sorry, dieters, these are high calories, high sugar, high fat and everything. And if you must know, each cookie is about 200cal with 10g of fat. But who cares? We are talking about chocolate cookies here!!! And they are darn easy to make too…

1. Melt the butter and chocolate

2. Dump the rest of the ingredients, mainly, eggs, flour, sugar, cocoa powder and chocolate chips, into the mixture and stir to combine

3. Use a tablespoon to drop the dough onto baking tray and pop into the oven…dang…these look good enough to eat even before it’s baked!

After about 10 minutes…*Ding*

See? So simple and easy. You know what’s easier? Eating the whole batch hot from the oven. MMMMMMmmmmmm….

Okay, here’s the recipe and brief instructions:

Extra Rich, Soft-baked Double Chocolate Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup flour

1 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

180 g butter

150g dark chocolate, broken into tiny pieces for easier melting

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cup chocolate chips (if you want to taste the chunks, use regular choc chips but if you want it to be melted into the cookies, use mini choc chips and if you prefer white choc, then use white choc chips)

Instructions

1. Sift the dry ingredients together.

2. Melt the butter and dark chocolate (either over a pan of simmering water or in the microwave for 2 mins)

3. Add the dry ingredients and the eggs. Stir. Then dump in the chips and mix well.

4. Scoop out the mixture using a spoon and place on baking tray.

5. Bake at 180C for about 10 mins or so. If you prefer it to be crispy, then bake for about 12 minutes.

Enjoy!

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Much has been said about the good and bad of drinking coffee. The recent onslought of advertisements by Nescafe claiming that coffee is good for you because it contains anti-oxidants made me decide that it’s time I do some digging around to find out the truth behind all these claims.

Let’s first look at the nutrition value of coffee without looking into the various claims by various researchers and scientists.

Nutrition value of Coffee

If we talk about 2g of regular instant powdered coffee:

• it is low in calories, about 5 calories
• it is low in cholesterol
• it is low in fatty acids
• it has ZERO vitamins
• it contains potassium, phosphorus, magnesium and small amounts of calcium
• it contains 62.8mg of caffeine

Now, we come to the findings and research by various scientists and experts.

Pros and Cons of Drinking Coffee

According to WebMD, researches have found that drinking coffee could possibly help lower your risk of diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, colon cancer, cavities and treat headaches too.  However, the article also maintained that  if you consume more coffee than your body could handle, it could result in adverse effects such as nervousness, trembling hands and rapid heartbeat. Coffee, although low in cholesterol, was known to raise cholesterol levels in certain people and this could result in artery clogging which could lead to heart attacks.

Contrary to the WebMD article’s claims, a Harvard research showed that coffee consumption has not effect on cancer in any way at all. However, it concurs with the findings that drinking coffee has been beneficial in reducing the risks of Alzheimenr’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, heart disease, diabetes mellitus type 2, cirrhosis of the liver and gout.

Coffee is also known to cause heartburn and other related illnesses and yes, it does contain anti-oxidants that could prevent cell damage but that is very minimal. In fact, research has shown that more than 1,000 chemicals are found in roasted coffee and many of these chemicals are rodent carcinogens.

Doctors have advised those with heart problems and pregnant mothers to limit the intake of coffee and for a good reason too. That’s because coffee contains caffeine and caffeine is found to cause an increase in the stiffening of arterial walls which is not good for people with heart problems.

Also,  drinking coffee can result in iron deficiency anemia in mothers and babies. It won’t even help if the mother consume supplemental iron because coffee would block the absorption of iron.

In conclusion, I think that all these contradictory researches only goes to show that coffee isn’t all that bad but it’s not all that good either. If you want anti-oxidants, fresh fruits and vegetables contain loads of anti-oxidants that is proven to boosts your immune system and also contains loads of vitamins and minerals.

You don’t need to fall for the ridiculous Nescafe ads on getting your anti-oxidants from coffee when you can get it from other natural sources that are healthier and better.

Also, if you enjoy a cuppa every once in a while, it’s not all bad. When it comes to our health and food, moderation is always the key. So, if you consume coffee in moderation it probably will not cause much bad side effects on you. Still, it all boils down to how your body takes it.

For example, my husband has a heart problem and he only needs to drink a cup of Nescafe before he suffers chest pains for the next few days. So, he has to cut out coffee entirely from his diet.  As for me, I don’t drink coffee either because after years of over-indulging in Nescafe and other coffee brands, my body finally puts a stop to it all. Now, a drink of really rich coffee (such as Nescafe, Expresso and brewed coffee) would give me heart palpitations, shortness of breath, trembling hands and nervousness.

So, whether you are a coffee addict or simply loves the taste of coffee, do remember that coffee is not all that good for you but it’s also not all bad. Enjoy the taste and the aroma by all means but do remember, moderation is the key.

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