Pop - Lock - and - Drop It

Does your early morning routine involve poppin' it, lockin' it, and droppin' it?

Mine does!

I pop that coffee canister lid off (measure out what I want), lock the canister lid back on (remember, I have a 1 year old), and drop the coffee maker button to "on"!

After my 2nd or 3rd cup of coffee, I'm then about pop, lock and drop it in dance style fashion on my way to the bathroom!

While the cups 'o Joe are OH SO DELICIOUS and do give each of us a "pick me up" they actually have some health benefits.

In my master's program at UNC-Charlotte, I did a study on the health benefits of coffee in relation to the onset and progression of diabetes. Believe it or not, there is a very (very) small correlation. So, my diabetic husband pop, locks and drops it too- in an effort to do whatever we can to ward off his disease.

Via one of my favorite online websites (webmd.com) here are some of the health benefits surrounding coffee:

A growing body of research shows that coffee drinkers, compared to nondrinkers, are:

• less likely to have type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and dementia
• have fewer cases of certain cancers, heart rhythm problems, and strokes

"'There is certainly much more good news than bad news, in terms of coffee and health,' says Frank Hu, MD, MPH, PhD, nutrition and epidemiology professor at the Harvard School of Public Health. But (you knew there would be a “but,” didn’t you?) coffee isn't proven to prevent those conditions. There are signs of potential health perks -- and a few cautions. If you're like the average American, who downed 416 8-ounce cups of coffee in 2009 (by the World Resources Institute's estimates), you might want to know what all that java is doing for you, or to you."

Another website (livescience.com) was REALLY funny (so I wanted to include it) but FAR less reputable:

- Caffeine can kill you: but you have to drink 80-100 cups in a hurry.

- Caffeine may boost female sex drive...or this worked on RATS! Ha!

- Decaf has caffeine! What?!?!?! 10 decaffeinated cups= caffeine of 1 cup.

- Coffee was discovered by Goats. Wow. Yea, never depend on a website that lists goats as a founder.

Overall, by drinking coffee you can #1, stay awake and #2, ward off some pretty serious conditions.

POP, LOCK AND DROP IT!

Erica