By the way ... Don’ t give up coffee, it can be good for you

TIME and again patients at my surgery tell me that they have given up caffeine. They are hoping I will be impressed with their determination to adopt a lifestyle measure that they have, somehow, been convinced is good for their health.

It’s a pity really, as I remain unconvinced that caffeine, in moderation, does any harm at all. In fact, when consumed as coffee, it’s good for you.

I am sure that instant works just as well, but given that the proper kind can be so tasty and there are so many inventive ways to serve it (flat white, cortado etc), why not enjoy the full experience? I have a double macchiato once or twice a day.

It’s important to note that research shows decaffeinated coffee does not provide the same health benefits as the real thing, yet the studies also show that the benefits cannot be attributed to the caffeine alone. We know that coffee consumption slows the development of the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, and more recently it’s been revealed that regular coffee drinkers (the magic figure is two to three cups each day) have a slightly reduced risk of developing this degenerative disease, which affects 1 per cent of people over the age of 60.

Coffee consumption also helps protect against type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cirrhosis (scarring of the liver) and liver cancer. These effects are attributed to anti-inflammatory and antioxidant chemicals in the coffee.

Quite a revelation, and another example of a natural botanical product (such as, say, digitalis, a powerful heart medicine derived from the purple foxglove) that has profound effects within the body. So drink up.