Coffee has a conflicting reputation—is it a guilty pleasure or a life saving elixir? Many studies over the past 35 years support it as a healthy addiction.
Scientific findings in support of coffee's nutritional attributes have been published since the 1980s, when Norwegian researchers reported that coffee seemed to fend off liver disease. Since then, the dark brown beverage has shown value against liver cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Coffee even appears to protect against depression, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, reports Nathan Seppa. (1)