That first coffee in the morning is more than simply a treat – it’s turn into a deeply ingrained ritual and most of us can’t imagine how we’d start the day off without it.

From soy lattes to long blacks, Black Insomnia Coffee Company expenditure in the common Australian household has increased from sixty cents weekly in the mid-seventies to $5.77 per week between 2009-10. As the price of coffee has increased during this time there is no doubting that Australian’s love affair with coffee is more than simply a fling.

We’ve listed seven reasons below that will help you keep your coffee dream alive – and they’ll be easy to remember, because coffee’s good like that.

COFFEE IS FILLED WITH ANTIOXIDANTS

Coffee is the major source of antioxidants in the Western diet surpassing fresh fruit and vegetables. You’d need to nibble on large numbers of berries to get the number of antioxidants consumed from several cups of coffee.

Antioxidants are kind little molecules. They donate electrons to free radicals. Free radicals are constantly attacking our bodies with unpaired electrons that can mess with cell structures like proteins and DNA. Distributing electrons to free radicals is the identical to giving them a ‘chill pill’ and could lead to improved all around health.

COFFEE HELPS WITH YOUR MEMORY

Coffee is a well-known stimulant. You understand that buzz you get when you take your first sip… or even just smell coffee? Well, that’s the active ingredient caffeine. In addition to the obvious uplifting ramifications of caffeine some studies show it helps enhance the brains capacity for memory.

A group of participants occurred in research in which they were required to remember images shown on a screen. Some were administered with a solid caffeine tablet and others given a placebo. The research showed that those given the caffeine tablet were better able to remember the images better than those who had been given the placebo.

COFFEE CAN HELP WITH DEPRESSION

Have you ever had a coffee and felt your mood brighten? A study conducted on more than 50,000 older women over ten years uncovered that those who drank little to no coffee had a 15% higher chance of depression than those who drank coffee every second day or more. Why is that?

Well, coffee helps the brain release dopamine, which sends signals to other nerve cells. But not simply any boring, old signals… dopamine is reward-related which is accountable for the sensations of feeling in love, happy and motivated.

COFFEE CAN HELP YOU LIVE LONGER

While coffee isn’t a magic elixir that will keep you youthful, and also have long reaching effects on health, which can help your home is longer. Because coffee is proven to reduce cardiovascular and neurological diseases as well as reduce the risk of suicide, studies show that for those reasons it does lower the risk of mortality among coffee drinkers.

COFFEE MAY DECREASE THE CHANCE OF TYPE 2 DIABETES

Energy is created in our bodies thanks to insulin. Once the body doesn’t have enough insulin you are in risk of developing Type 2 diabetes – the most frequent form of diabetes.

Some researchers believe Type 2 diabetes is caused by a build up of a protein called HIAPP, which can lead to the death of cells in the pancreas. Three compounds within a regular cup of coffee helped stop this toxic accumulation, protecting the pancreas and decreasing the risk of Type 2 diabetes.

COFFEE MAY LOWER THE RISK OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

While there is no cure for Alzheimer’s, there exists some speculation as to what causes the illness. The build up of amyloid beta is suspected to cause Alzheimer’s – a protein in the brain – which is most regularly found increased in Alzheimer’s patients.

Your friend coffee can reduce the levels of beta amyloid and studies show that coffee drinkers are less likely than their non-coffee drinking counterparts to build up Alzheimer’s.

YOUR LIVER LOVES COFFEE

We’ve probably saved the best for last – drinking more coffee can help reduce damage caused by imbibing too much food and alcohol.

With over 430,000 study participants and data from previous studies, researchers discovered that those drinking several cups of coffee a day had a 44% lower chance of developing liver cirrhosis, between those surveyed. Everything comes back to the high level of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties of coffee. But, be warned… adding sugars, syrups or whiskey to coffee is not recommended as they may potentially cause stress on the liver.