If you are a coffee drinker, you no doubt have asked yourself how much coffee is it safe for you to consume on a daily basis. This is not surprising since so much has been blamed on coffee. Heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, you name it. At one time or another, coffee has been made to blame.

Here's a new question that you may have never asked yourself: is coffee ever good for you? The answer may surprise you.

Here is a statistic to ponder: did you know that there are over 160 million coffee drinkers in the Unites States alone? In terms of consumption, the average American consumes 8.8 lbs. of coffee per year. But consider this: the world leader in terms of consumption is Finland which comes in at nearly 30 lbs per year. That's a lot of coffee!

Another statistic is that there have been well over 19,000 studies done to analyze the effects of coffee. Now, studies can often be skewed to show whatever the author wants, but here is what is generally agreed: consuming 2 to 3 cups of coffee per day is often considered more beneficial than harmful.

But, since everyone's body is different, we all tolerate things differently. In some people even the smallest amount of caffein can cause nervousness and irritebility. Consider also that a person may consume caffein in other ways besides coffee. And often without knowing

about it. For sonme other interesting coffee articles, check out http://www.fmcoffee.com.

A little known fact is that coffee contains antioxidants which have been shown to imporve oveall health. Here is a short list of some benefits which have been shown to be present in coffee:

* Reduce symptoms of Parkinson's Disease
* Antibacterial ingredients
* Reduce the risk of developing gallstones
* Preserve mental accuity
* Reduce risk of developing type 2 Diabetes (if you have diabetes, reduce your consumption
* If you are free of hypertension, coffee will not likely produce it
* Headache relief
* Reduce the risk of some types of cancer
* Improve physical endurance

This is not to say that there are not some serious negative results of drinking coffee. It is nice to know, however, that a cup or two in the morning may not hurt you. But how do you know for sure? Be sure to talk to your health professional and get their advice on consuming coffee. They (and you) know what conditions you may have that you need to be careful of when it comes to coffee. Then do you research and, if appropriate, enjoy your coffee.

Yvonne Volante, the author, is a big fan of coffee and writes for fmcoffee.com, which is the premier coffee resource on the internet. You can see all of the articles over at http://www.fmcoffee.com.