Coffee News That You Can Use

There is surprising news about coffee and your health -- it's antioxidant content, the link between coffee consumption and reduced risk of diabetes, Parkinson's and colon cancer; enhanced memory and physical performance. Learn the latest practical tips for taking advantage of coffee's many health benefits.


Source of Antioxidants
That coffee you’re enjoying doesn’t just taste great – it’s also good for you! In fact, coffee is the number one source of antioxidants in the American diet.1 That’s according to Dr. Joe Vinson, a scientist who studies the antioxidant content of foods. Click here for full article.

Little Known Facts About Coffee
That cup of coffee you’re enjoying is full of surprises. Here are a few facts that scientists around the world have reported: Click here for full article.

Can Coffee Help You Get in Shape?
There are many reasons that coffee is America’s favorite beverage. In addition to tasting great, keeping you alert and boosting your mood, coffee can also help you shape up and stay fit.

For your body workout, a number of studies have shown how coffee can enhance physical performance. The research shows coffee may be especially useful for athletes
engaged in sports like swimming, running or cycling.1 Many studies prove coffee boosts energy and helps people do what they do. Coffee may increase stamina, reduce
fatigue1 and even lessen muscle pain.2 For many people, experts say that a cup or two of coffee 30-60 minutes before a workout may do the trick.2 Coffee’s pain relieving
effect on sore muscles keeps working after you exercise as well. You also may be surprised to learn that coffee is just as hydrating for your body as water.3
Click here for full article.

Coffee and Memory
Aren’t we fortunate that a beverage so delicious can be good for us in so many ways?
We’re told by scientists that it looks like coffee can offer protection against type 2 diabetes,1 liver disease,2 Parkinson’s disease,3 some types of cancer3 – and even
dehydration.4We always knew our favorite brew kept us alert, but here’s one more benefit: studies have shown that coffee actually may enhance memory.5 And they’ve
actually seen it work! Click here for full article.

Coffee and Your Health: Surprising Findings
Do you want to stay healthy? It’s human nature to want to feel good, have lots of energy and avoid illness and pain. There are many ways to boost our health profile, including good lifestyle habits, diet and exercise. But there’s another,
surprising source of health benefits sitting right on your table or desk – coffee. No kidding! And, here’s the scientific skinny: Click here for full article.

Take Your Workout to the Next Level
No matter what the season, it seems like there’s always a pressing reason to get into better shape – getting ready for swimsuit season,making up for over-indulging during the holidays, getting buffed up for a special reunion or celebration.
Click here for full article.

Building a Wealth and Prosperity Mindset

One sure way to boost your odds of becoming successful is to have a mindset geared toward wealth and prosperity. Why? Because the actions you take on a daily basis – right down to the amount of effort you put toward your goals – stem directly from your state of mind.

Believing you can accomplish something is the first step in actually doing it.

Unfortunately many of us pay little attention to our mindset, and end up creating a whole lot of struggle and difficulty for ourselves in the process! The good news is that creating a wealth and prosperity mindset can be achieved quickly and easily with a little know-how and some determination.

This report will share some helpful insights on:

• Exactly what a wealth and prosperity mindset is
• Why it’s vital to have one if you want to succeed
• How to develop your mindset for wealth and prosperity

What is a Wealth and Prosperity Mindset?

The common definition of “mindset” is: a mental attitude or inclination, or a fixed state of mind. So, a wealth and prosperity mindset would mean an attitude or inclination that causes us to focus on abundance.

It may surprise you to learn that most people focus on the opposite. They focus on wanting more prosperity, seeking greater wealth, and pursuing both at any cost.

In other words, they focus on the fact that they do not yet have wealth or prosperity, which means they actually have a scarcity or poverty mindset. They focus more on what they’re lacking, the things they can’t afford to buy, and even worse – feeling resentful toward people who are already wealthy.

Does this describe your general attitude, too? If so, don’t let it get you down! It’s actually very common to have this mindset, and you can turn it around starting right now.

All you need is the willingness to start thinking in a different way and the courage to take actions based on this new way of thinking. Don’t worry; you won’t have to take groundbreaking actions; just one step at a time will move you in the direction you want to go.

Scarcity Consciousness vs. Abundance Consciousness

The very first step in building a wealth and prosperity mindset is to start expanding your awareness of wealth and prosperity.

Right now you may be in the habit of looking at the dark side of every situation. Perhaps you worry about how little money you have or you feel the heavy burden of too many bills. In order to turn this perception around, make it a point to see the abundance that surrounds you:

• Be grateful for the money you do have.
• Feel optimistic that you will receive more soon.
• Believe you can improve your life and make more money.

It’s also important for your perception of wealth to be in line with attracting it. You can’t have a negative opinion of wealthy people and expect to get wealthy yourself! It just won’t happen because you block wealth from coming to you every time you speak or think negatively about wealth or wealthy people.

Instead, start paying more attention to wealthy people you can admire. Read about great philanthropists or celebrities who do important work with their money. Seek out success stories about people who started with nothing and became millionaires.

The more you do this, the more you’ll change your perception of what it means to be wealthy and you’ll begin drawing more tangible expressions of wealth into your life.

A Common Blockage Against Feeling Prosperous

While you’re focusing more of your attention on success and wealth, it’s also important to deliberately turn your attention away from examples of scarcity – both in your own life and in the world in general.

What is it that makes us obsess over negativity and disasters? Like staring at a horrible car wreck when driving by, we sometimes can’t help ourselves and have to look!

Unfortunately, this habit carries over into all other areas of our lives and we find ourselves obsessing about problems and challenges too. The problem with this is that it keeps us focused on things that make us feel powerless and out of control.

In order to create a true prosperity mindset, you must train yourself to turn your attention away from anything that distracts you from focusing on your wealth and well being.

That doesn’t mean hiding your overdue bills in a drawer or refusing to face reality. You don’t have to become a “Pollyanna” to focus on abundance, but you do have to stop obsessing over the challenges and problems in your life.

A good rule is: Do what you can to improve the situation, then immediately move on to more positive pursuits.

Refuse to wallow in setbacks; avoid spending hours a day worrying about money; don’t talk yourself out of taking action because you might possibly fail. Be proactive and precise in your actions and keep focused on where you want to be, not where you don’t want to be.

If you were taking a road trip, rather than looking back at where you started, you’d keep focused on your destination and the route you need to take to get there.

Perception is Everything

The way you view your life and experiences is extremely important. Why? Because most of us live in reaction mode, that is, we tend to take action on our experiences after something happens.

If we perceive something to be dangerous, we take action to defend ourselves. If we perceive ourselves to be poor and lacking in opportunities, we see no point in working to improve our lives.

The problem with reactions like these is that they usually become self-fulfilling prophecies. Being overly-defensive can actually provoke attacks, and being overly-pessimistic can attract more and more issues that prevent us from improving our lives.

Rather than living with a reactive mindset, you can learn to start living with a proactive mindset and change your life in ways you wouldn’t have believed possible before now.

Limits Only Exist in Your Own Mind

What are your perceived limits when it comes to being rich and successful?

• Do you really believe you can make more money than you do now?
• Do you think that a lack of opportunities prevents you from doing so?
• Does it seem like there are too many obstacles between you and your dreams?

Make a list of every possible limitation you can think of that prevents you from being wealthy, and be sure to include both inner and outer limits. Include information about your own fears and doubts, as well as any perceived shortage of opportunities in your life.

Then examine each one carefully and decide if it’s really true or not. You may be surprised at some of the things you’ve convinced yourself to believe!

For example, if one of the items on your list is, “I can’t make more money because I don’t have a college degree,” ask yourself if there are any millionaires in the world who didn’t graduate from college with a degree, or even go to college at all. Of course there are!

This process is incredibly eye-opening and will help you see where you’re placing limitations on your own success.

It’s also important to keep challenging these false perceptions on a regular basis, because some of them may be embedded pretty solidly into your subconscious mind.

Logically, you may know that there’s nothing holding you back, but then you still find yourself hesitating or procrastinating.

If you keep challenging your limiting perceptions, and you take action despite them, they’ll begin to fade away and eventually disappear. You’ll have convinced yourself that they’re not true after all.

Taking the Right Actions

Now that you’re starting to transform your perceptions of limits, you’re in a much better position to begin taking focused action. The question is: What kind of action should you take?

All of th e richest and most successful people in the world have one thing in common: they found a way to contribute value to the world and are rewarded well for their efforts. Think about that for a minute.

Becoming wealthy is not about wishing for wealth until it falls out of the sky and lands on your doorstep. At least it doesn’t work out that way for most people. The majority of us will have to work for our wealth – but that’s not such a bad thing if we choose work we truly enjoy.

The seeds of your wealth are tucked away in a surprising place: in your greatest interests and passions. Of course, simply following your passions isn’t enough. You also have to find a way to make your passions pay.

That means finding a way to use your interests and talents to contribute value to the world. This can be done in any number of ways.

Here are some ways you can follow your passion while contributing value:

• Write a book about a topic you love.
• Create a product in line with your interests.
• Offer a service doing something you enjoy.

The possibilities are endless! Give some thought to the things you truly enjoy and the skills and experience you already have. Then ask yourself, “How can I use these assets to contribute value and generate income?”

Changing the Way You Work

Once you have a clear idea of the right activities to begin drawing wealth into your life, it’s time to begin approaching these activities with a newfound sense of purpose and a “can do” attitude.

Most of us go about this in the wrong way and then get frustrated when it doesn’t seem to be working. The wrong way would be: taking small actions while hoping for big results right away and then concluding we failed because we didn’t progress quickly enough.

Instead, try this:

• Take bold, consistent actions every day.
• Step out of your comfort zone as far as you dare.
• Be confident about your abilities and expect positive results.
• Be patient; don’t expect overnight success.
• Focus most of your attention on enjoying the journey.

Can you see the difference between these two approaches? One leads to certain failure and the other virtually guarantees success. When you aren’t so focused on needing to see results, you relax and let them come naturally.

Ironically, such a relaxed attitude actually helps us make much faster progress than if we keep stopping to pull our hair out in frustration!

Happiness, Prosperity, and Success

One of the most common misperceptions about wealth is that achieving some monetary goal will make you happy. It’s true that having more money allows for greater financial freedom in life, which can be seen as a facet of happiness – but true happiness doesn’t come from anything outside of you.

Happiness is a state of mind.

Can you recall any wealthy people who are unhappy with their lives? Just off the top of your head you could probably recite the names of half a dozen celebrities who are constantly struggling with addictions, relationship turmoil, legal problems, and worse.

Money didn’t make these people happy, and it can’t make you happy either.

If you want to be happy, then you must decide to be happy now – regardless of your problems and challenges. Just having a ton of money in the bank won’t make problems go away unless those problems are directly related to a lack of money.

No matter what you do, there will always be issues and events that threaten to detract from your satisfaction and happiness. However, how this affects you is your choice.

The greatest power you can ever develop is the ability to focus on the good so you can be happy right now – no matter what else is happening around you.

It’s time to stop the mental recording that loops over and over, “I’ll be happy when…I’ll be happy when…I’ll be happy when…” Right now is all you have.

Let tomorrow take care of itself. Instead, focus most of your energy on making this moment the best it can possibly be. Mastering this skill alone can make you the richest person on the planet!

Enjoy the Journey!

The biggest drawback to traditional goal-setting is that it encourages us to focus so strongly on an end result that we don’t recognize the gifts we receive along the way. Be sure to pause now and enjoy the scenery from where you stand, even if you haven’t reached your ultimate goal yet.

Doing this regularly can provide great encouragement and motivation to keep moving forward, but even better, it makes the entire journey seem as rewarding as the destination!

by Nina_Cap

Twitter, Business, Questions and Answers

Twitter is still a scary, untamed frontier for many businesses. They know that they should be engaging with the Twitter community, but aren’t sure how to do it.

I’ve collected up some of the most common questions asked by Twitter-for-business newbies and answered them below.

Is it bad to have a lopsided following/followers ratio?

Balance is better. Following 150 people with only 75 following is OK. If you have more lopsided figures of, say, 300 following to 75 followers, that might give tweeters pause before they consider following you. Focus on quality over quantity.

How do I stop people from following me?

Block them. Go to the person’s Twitter page and click “Block” in the sidebar under “Actions.” Once you block someone, they won’t show up in your followers list.

I’m concerned that a follower of my company is a porn site. What if my clients see such a follower prior to my blocking them?

First off, most folks don’t have time to analyze your list of followers. Secondly, most people know that spammers go after everyone and we don’t always catch them all. So it’s not a concern, unless you have lots of them.

If you block someone, is there a way to see those you blocked, in case you want to reverse your decision?

You can reverse your decision by going to the person’s Twitter page and clicking “Unblock” under “Actions.” You can view a list of people you’ve blocked, but it’s an XML file and not very readable: http://twitter.com/blocks/blocking.xml.

Should I protect my Twitter page, so I can avoid spammers and such?

This is a bad idea, particularly if you’re using Twitter for business. Some Twitter users don’t follow people who protect their updates.

I’m trying to implement Twitter at my company, but can’t get executive buy-in. What can I do?

Many businesses are using Twitter to connect and exchange ideas with customers. It might help to do a search to find case studies and examples of businesses using Twitter and show how they’ve benefited.

Do you recommend having separate Twitter accounts for business personal use?

That depends. Many people have a single account that they use for all because it adds personality. But if you like to share strong opinions and talk about sensitive topics like religion or politics, then a separate personal account would be wise. It also depends on what you represent. Are you working for a large company and tweeting in its name or are you a one-person business?

What are the liabilities associated with a business using Twitter?

It’s up to the business. The company might want to consider drafting a policy on the company’s rules for how employees use Twitter and other social networking sites. Suggestions for things to address include usage, company disclosure and consequences for violating policy.

Who should manage a company’s Twitter account? Marketing? Product Management? Sales?

It’s important to note that Twitter users easily detect fakery. Who does the tweeting depends on the purpose of the Twitter account(s). Be honest about who is doing the tweeting. Avoid having personnel far removed from the executives to do the CEO’s tweeting, for example.

What are those words starting with # like “#b2b”?

They’re hashtags. They make it easier to tag references to a topic, event or other common factor. For example, if someone tweets about a job opportunity, he could tag it with “#jobs” so those looking for jobs can easily find it.

Should you use a account name that is recognized to be associated with your company, or not?

For business-related Twitter accounts, you should either use your real name or your company’s name. If you use the company’s name, you should put your real name in your profile. If multiple people tweet from the same company account, then say so in the profile. List their names, if you can.

If the people you are following are listed on your Twitter page, how do you prevent people from clicking on your competition? Can you follow someone without it being listed?

It’s better to not hide the people you follow, even your competition. Having open dialogue with your industry — including your competitors — will help you earn trust and credibility. If you really want to follow someone without them knowing, then subscribe to their Twitter RSS feed.

How often should a business tweet?

Avoid posting many tweets in a short space of time and overwhelming followers’ streams. Think quality over quantity. A good rule of thumb is to post few tweets spread out over the course of the day.

How do you respond to people who say something good or bad about your business?

Being able to rapidly respond to any news about your business is valuable. If it’s good, either tweet the person directly or in a direct message (DM). You don’t want to bug people with a short “Thank you for that.” If it’s something bad, try to solve the problem or ask questions to find out the problem. If you find out the problem and you’re researching the answer, don’t wait until you find the answer to respond. You can respond quickly with a “We’re researching this and will get back to you.”

Should I block followers who have nothing to do with my business?

No — unless they’re spammers or have inappropriate content.

How can we quickly build up our list of people to follow?

Use search.twitter.com or an application like twellow.com, which can search profiles for keywords. However, don’t be in a hurry to build a big list. Remember lopsided followers/following is not good.

Is there a way to integrate CRM with Twitter?

Some CRM applications include Twitter and other social media sites as part of the app. Some have add-ons. If yours doesn’t, create a custom field.

How do I get leads on Twitter?

Focus on providing value with your tweets. Spread out links to your own content, because doing it too often turns off many users. Help others, ask questions and share thoughts about your industry or business in general. These are just a few of many ways you can build relationships on Twitter.

by Meryl Evans

Squeezing your way to business growth

If you want to grow your small business, it's time to squeeze some oranges.
No, I don't mean you have to go out and start drinking orange juice. I mean you have to squeeze more out of the things you already do and have in your business now — your products, services, customers, distribution, even employees. You've got to make from what you already have, especially in this economy.

I think it helps to think of your company's various assets as baskets of oranges. For instance, if you've been in business for some time, you've already developed a number of very valuable assets. You've spent money, time, energy and careful thought developing a number of key ingredients for your success, such as your existing:

• Products or services.
• Clients or customers.
• Marketing materials and methods.
• Distribution channels.
• Key referral sources.

Let's call that your first basket of oranges. You're already getting a certain amount of money — juice — from that basket.

Now what's the best way to make more money?

Create a second basket of oranges? Or squeeze harder on the oranges you have?

Instinctively, many entrepreneurs wanting to grow their businesses take the route of creating a second basket of oranges; they develop new products, services, or markets. It's particularly tempting to try to find a new basket of oranges in this economy. But that costs a lot.

Are you really sure there's no more juice in the basket of oranges you already have?

Let's examine a number of options for growing a small business, including:

1. New product development: You create and offer additional products or services. This means investment — research and development, finding new sources, adding production capacity, testing and perfecting.

2. New market development: You offer the same products or services, but now you look for totally new markets. This means investment — opening new locations, developing new distribution channels, creating new marketing materials or websites aimed at these new markets.

3. Opportunistic: You respond to opportunities for new business as they come to you. If it's a big enough customer, they may demand that you change or significantly modify your products or services. Also an investment.

4. Increase sales to existing market: You go after the same or similar market with existing products or services, but you market more aggressively. You might have to tweak, revise, or reprice some of your existing products or services, but you don't totally revamp them. Instead, you work harder, longer, smarter.

The first two options — developing new products or developing new markets — require you to invest a lot of time, money, and energy in cultivating what is, essentially, a new business. That costs a lot and takes a long time to see results.

The third growth option is by responding to opportunities that come to you. Most entrepreneurs grow at least part of their business this way. In fact, I first went into business by literally bumping in to an opportunity. While walking my dog, I met a man who needed a business plan; I had never written one before. Twenty years later, I'm still dealing with business plans and business planning.
But growing opportunistically is hit or miss. You can't control or count on it.

The final option is to find ways to sell more of your existing products or services to your current customers, through your existing sales channels. This is the most lucrative. You don't have to invest a lot of time and money in developing new products or new distribution or marketing techniques.

You're squeezing your oranges!

So — if you want to grow your business, you'll probably find it doesn't make a lot of sense to create entirely new product lines unless your product is out-of-date or no longer competitive. And it doesn't make sense to develop new markets unless your current market is extremely small or shrinking.

Instead, the best way to grow your business and increase sales may be to develop a coherent marketing plan for your current products and services, building on what you already have in place. Then, just go out and work hard — squeeze harder on the oranges you already have in your business basket. Start squeezing!

by Rhonda Abrams

Combat common customer service myths

Retailers usually rely on sales numbers to indicate success: if sales are rising, business must be going well. However, you may be reducing your profits by spending up to four times as much as necessary on marketing and customer acquisition. A wiser approach than just pushing sales is to harness word of mouth and improve customer experience. This lowers customer attrition and can lead to “customers for life.”

There are five myths that almost all retailers believe which are costing them sales and employee turnover as well as sapping the impact of marketing dollars.

Myth 1: Complaints and returns are going down so we are doing really well.
Fact: No news is not good news. There is dissatisfaction even if you are not hearing about it.

What looks like the good news may be the bad news – your customers may have stopped complaining because they have given up on you. TARP has found that complaint rates, in general, are down, and that more than half of customers who don’t complain cite that “it won’t do any good” as the primary reason. For instance, employees not making eye contact suppress complaints by 30 percent. For small ticket items, more customers throw the item away than return it, but their loyalty to the store is damaged – often by as much as 40 percent.

Action: Vigorously track and research complaint rates. If complaints go down, check to see if accessibility has been reduced. Aggressively solicit complaints in stores (via signs), because every complaint is information you need.


Myth 2: Price is the name of the game to expand share and profitability.
Fact: Great service enables you to deliver extra value, charge a higher price, and raise profits.

Price is the primary driver for product selection for only one-third of customers. The rest (that would be two-thirds) will pay a premium for higher quality and service. Surveys of more than 6,000 customers of three major retailers found that sensitivity to price is a function of the number of recent problems. Even one problem can double sensitivity to price. Excellent service changes your competitive position and can enhance your margin. Customers will pay a premium when they encounter few problems and observe that any problems are quickly resolved.

Action: Prevent problems and unpleasant surprises for customers.

Myth 3: The key to great service is getting the frontline to follow and enforce our policies.
Reality: Policy and process problems related to products are costing you two to four times as much revenue as staff sales behavior and policy adherence.

This myth is really way, way off base. Usually only 20-30 percent of dissatisfaction comes from frontline staff failures. The four top causes of dissatisfaction are out of stocks, obtaining help in finding or selecting items, returns, and long waits at checkout. None of these is primarily caused by the failure of frontline staff to do their jobs. Customer waits to get service or at checkout are often exacerbated because customers take additional time to complain about the wait when they do obtain help. These issues then contribute to staff turnover because the staff have to take flack for policies that they have no control over. They are put in the position of either saying, that is our policy which appears to be unresponsive or worse they overtly acknowledge that management doesn’t care about the customer’s needs. Much turnover is due to employees saying to themselves, “I’m not getting paid enough to take all this flack.” You can either pay them more or reduce the flack.

Action: Ask your frontline reps what issues they regularly encounter but cannot fix. Modify the policy and process issues in light of the revenue damage. Finally, provide the frontline with flexibility to solve problems, illustrating this by stories as well as clear, believable explanations and responses. This is a problem that must be solved by senior management, not supervisors.

Myth 4: Many customers are crooks and you need a rigorous return policy, like getting receipts.
Fact: 98 percent of customers are honest and, by running them through the gauntlet to catch the 2 percent, you are doing serious damage.

In interviews with operations executives at a dozen retailers, TARP has received general agreement that almost all customers making returns or using coupons are honest. When onerous requirements are placed on a transaction, the customer often views it a playing a game of “gotcha” to avoid fulfilling the customer’s needs. Again the employees are caught between the policy and their desire to satisfy the customer, especially when told that “the customer is king and always right.”

Action: Encourage the employee to say yes as often as possible and to view each transaction as an opportunity to either drive the customer away or to retain the customer. If the customer seems honest or just confused or admits to having lost the receipt, and they have not made the same request recently, the employee should be encouraged to “break the rules” and give the customer the refund.

Myth 5: Out of stocks and discontinued items are ok – customers understand and expect this.
Fact: Customers do not understand or accept disappointment.

Customers are deeply bothered when advertised items are out of stock – they feel that the store executed a bait and switch. Likewise, they lose part of their reason for coming into the store when items they have been using for a long time are discontinued. TARP finds that customers in these situations are 15 percent less likely to return or recommend your company. Smart retailers calculate the cost of inventory against not only a lost sale but lost future revenue due to disappointment. Also, savvy retailers have given customers an opportunity to buy discontinued items in case lots – which they did with great enthusiasm and thanks.

Action: Avoid disappointing customers and rethink the long-term revenue implications of any policy that is creating disappointment.

The problems that tend to do the most damage to loyalty, word of mouth and retention are policy and process issues. Neither customers nor employees tend to complain loudly because they assume policies are unchangeable. You need to encourage feedback from both groups and listen hard. Improving your customer service, will improve your bottom line.

by John Goodman

Wal-Mart to drop savings claims in its ads

A national consumer watchdog has told Wal-Mart Stores Inc. that it should stop running national television ads that claim shoppers can save $700 a year by patronizing its stores.

The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus made the recommendation Monday after H-E-B Grocery Co., a large, Texas-based supermarket chain, filed a complaint in December challenging several of Wal-Mart's advertising campaigns.

The National Advertising Division faulted an ad Wal-Mart began running last fall that features a shot of packaged grocery items and a voiceover that says shoppers could save $700 if they bought the items at Wal-Mart. A four-second statement at the end of the ad said the claim is based on a study by Global Insight Inc. on 2007 sales of packaged foods and that "local savings vary."

Wal-Mart said it is no longer running the ad, but that it disagrees with NAD's findings: "We firmly believe that claim is well-supported by the Global Insight study, and that the advertising clearly communicated the claim and the basis for the claim."

An H-E-B spokeswoman it is prohibited from talking about the case due to National Advertising Division guidelines.

by ANN ZIMMERMAN

What's Decaffeination?

Lots of people instinctively ask for “decaf” when they sit down for dinner or head to the local coffee shop. Their thinking is, All the delicious, warming goodness of a cup of joe without any of those nasty jitters! Now, it's true that drinking too much of your usual brew can give you the jumpin' crazies – a problem avoided with ATLCoffeeHouse, which is fully-caffeinated coffee but (according to lots of our drinkers) doesn't seem to give you the jitters – but we think if people knew how coffee is decaffeinated, they'd think twice before asking for another cup.

Decaffeination was invented by chemist Ludwig Roselius in 1905. Rselius used a dangerous hydrocarbon, benzene, to remove caffeine from green (unroasted) coffee beans. Even though many of the modern processes rely on softer methods, the great bulk of them still use chemicals whose effects we don't fully understand.
Even more importantly, a 2005 study from the Fuqua Heart Centre in Atlanta, Georgia indicated that decaf coffee drinkers are actually unhealthier than their caffeine-sipping kin! Since all decaffeination processes strip beans of their natural deliciousness, many companies use oilier beans so that the final yield will taste more like a normal cup – leading to an increase in “bad cholesterol” levels for decaf drinkers! ( Click here to read an article on the findings )

The beauty of ATLCoffeeHouse – a robust, caffeinated coffee bean whose special herbal booster seems to help balance out the “jittery” feeling many feel after too many cups of their usual brew – is that our chemical-free process compromises neither the healthfulness nor delicious taste of our products!
So, next time you think about reaching for that cup of decaf, why not drink up a cup of ATLCoffeeHouse instead? Trust us: your tastebuds will thank you for it...and so will your heart!

>>Click here to read a Scientific American article on various unnatural decaffeination processes!

Coffee has been shown to Help Manage Asthma

Does Coffee Help Manage Asthma?

The incidence of asthma as a respiratory disease has increased significantly worldwide during the past twenty years. In some industrialised countries the incidence is now as high as 10% (UK) and 14% (Japan) of the population. The beneficial effect of coffee on asthma was known over a hundred years ago and coffee has been used to treat the condition in Scotland since at least 1859 (10). This benefit is confirmed by recent research findings. An Italian study of 72,284 people (11) showed that the incidence of asthma fell by 28% when they drank three or more cups a day.

Similar results were observed in the second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (12) where, in a group of 20,322 Americans, the incidence of asthma fell by 29% and the incidence of wheeze fell 13%, when regular coffee drinkers were compared with non-coffee drinkers.

References:
10. Salter, H. Edinburgh Medical Journal, 1859,( 4): 1109-1115
11. Pagano, R. et al. Chest, 1988,( 94): 386-389
12. Schwartz, J. and Weiss, S.T. Annals of Epidemiology, 1992, (2): 627-635

The Addiction of Coffee

Is Coffee Addictive?

No. Whilst enjoying drinking coffee regularly may be described as a habit, and coffee is known to act as a stimulant and keep us alert, in no way should this be confused with it being addictive. Regulatory agencies such as the World Health Organization, has stated that, “There is no evidence whatsoever that caffeine use has even remotely comparable physical and social consequences which are associated with serious drugs of abuse” (13).

Evidence to support the claim that coffee drinking is not addictive was confirmed in a recent study (14), which showed caffeine did not act on the brain areas responsible for reward, motivation and addiction in the same way as amphetamines and cocaine. Likewise mild withdrawal symptoms, such as headaches and lethargy, experienced by some coffee drinkers, do not seem to relate to the quantities consumed daily.

References
13. World Health Organisation (WHO). The ICD-10 classification of mental and
behavioral disorders. World Health Organisation: Geneva, 1994
14. Nehlig, A. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 1999, 23, 563-576

Does Drinking Coffee Really Disturb Sleep?

Many people blame coffee for disturbing their sleep and refrain from drinking it in the evening. We are all aware that coffee gives us a boost during the day and of its well known immediate effects on keeping us alert. This may mean it takes longer to fall asleep, but studies show that the dream phase of sleep remains unaffected.

One such recent study showed that drinking up to seven cups during a day is not associated with us enjoying any less sleep (3) and in another survey, involving 760 nurses (4), results showed that other factors such as age and family issues were more important in keeping us awake. In a study involving elderly women (5), there was no difference in caffeine consumption between good and poor sleepers.

References
3. Montserrat, Sanchez-Ortuno, Sleep Medicine, 2005, (6): 247-251
4. Lee, K.A. Sleep, 1992,(15): 493-498
5. Bliwise, N.G. Psychology and Aging, 1992,(7): 83-88

Can Coffee Help Against Alzheimer's Disease?

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is one of the most common forms of dementia today and its prevention and treatment have become a major public health challenge worldwide.
Understanding the role of coffee as a protective factor has been growing, as scientific studies show that caffeine intake is associated with a lower risk for AD.

One such study undertaken nationwide in Canada (1), involved a group of 6,434 people. All were 65 yrs of age or over when the study began in 1991, and none showed any signs of AD. In 1996, of the 4,615 still alive, 194 were diagnosed with AD. Analysis of these 4615 people showed that coffee consumption, among other factors such as regular activity, was associated with a reducing risk of developing AD. Similar results for coffee were observed in a small Portuguese study (2).

REFERENCES

1. Lindsay, J. et al. American Journal Epidemiology 2002, (5): 445-5
2. Maia, L. and de Mendonca, A. European Journal of Neurology 2002, (4): 377–382

5 Trends that are Emerging in the Coffee Business

1. According to every source we can find, at-home coffee consumption is on the rise! More and more consumers are throwing expensive brands like Starbucks and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf overboard in favor of delicious, homemade coffee and tea products. This is bad news for some coffee giants, but great news for anyone who sells delicious, inexpensive at-home gourmet coffee like ATLCoffeeHouse! Click here to read a Wall Street Journal article on this outstanding trend.

2. The average annual coffee consumption of the American adult is 26.7 gallons, or over 400 cups. And that’s not to think about coffee fanatics!



3. We all know that “Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world next to oil,” right? Well, the author who first made that claim, economist Mark Pendergrast, has written an article for Entrepreneur.com explaining how he came to that conclusion. Click here to read it!



4. Though we tend to think they’re everywhere, Starbucks currently holds only about 7% of US coffee consumption, according to representatives from their organization. Sounds like there’s a lot of room for other folk to take make a life in that market, doesn’t it? Click here to read the MarketWatch on the subject.

5. The United States Department of Agriculture commissioned a report on the relationship between coffee production costs and the final, bottom-line cost for a cup. They found that “on average, a 10-cent increase in the cost of a pound of green coffee beans in a given quarter results in a 2-cent increase in manufacturer and retail prices” (Click here to read the summary of the article). So, basically, coffee is getting more and more expensive as production costs go up and up – which makes an affordable blend like ATLCoffeeHouse’s Healthy coffee line all the more appealing to consumers!

Independent Tea Review of Ganoderma Green Tea from The Tea Review

This green tea is focused on bringing you the health benefits of Ganoderma, a type of mushroom found in many Asian medicines. Ganoderma is currently being investigated for it’s potential health benefits that could be therapeutic for: anticancer effects, immunoregulatory effects, antioxidant activities, liver-protecting effects, hypoglycemic effects, antibacterial effects, antiviral effects, antifungal effects, reducing blood cholesterol, inhibiting blood vessel regeneration, protection against radiation-induced damage, reducing lower urinary tract symptoms, increasing endurance for vigorous exercise.

That’s a lot of benefits for one little mushroom! And ATL Coffeehouse provides the benefits of the Ganoderma mushroom along with the benefits of green tea in this blend.

Each teabag is individually wrapped in paper packaging. This is pre-bagged tea, but I opened a bag to see what was in it, and there were large chunks of dried mushroom along with green tea fannings (very finely cut green tea). The green tea isn’t of exceptional quality, however it is very potent from being ground, and provides a pleasant green tea base for this tea.

ATL Coffeehouse describes this tea as:

Combining the benefits of Ganoderma along with the antioxidant properties of natural green tea, makes for a wonderful healthy tea beverage. The best Green Tea you have ever tasted! Hot or Cold.

Instant Ganoderma Tea is specially formulated by using high quality Ganoderma and green tea to produce instant tea beverage. Ingredients: Ganoderma and Green Tea.



At first I had my doubts about what a mushroom tea would taste like. It didn’t seem appealing at first, but I found that the dried mushroom brings a unique earthy flavor to the tea, very hard to describe, but not at all unpleasant. The flavor is in fact very pleasing although it has a sharply astringent aftertaste. I wouldn’t say it’s the best green tea I ever tasted like their blurb says, but it’s definitely a good one!

The purported health benefits of this tea are what make it truly exceptional and worth keeping in your tea cabinet. More commonly known as Reishi or Lingzhi (the Ganoderma mushroom), because of its presumed health benefits and apparent absence of side-effects, it has attained a reputation in the East as the ultimate herbal substance.

by The Tea Guru Stephanie
TeaReviewBlog.com

Interested in trying a sample, Click Here

The Social Pleasures of Coffee

The history of associating drinking coffee with social pleasure was known about as long ago as the 14th century, when Arabian coffee drinkers went to coffee houses especially for the pleasure of drinking coffee. The first coffee houses were opened in Mecca and were called 'kaveh kanes'. They quickly spread throughout the Arab world and became successful places where chess and backgammon were played, gossip was exchanged, and singing, dancing and music were enjoyed. Nothing quite like the coffee house had existed before: a place where society and business could be conducted in comfortable surroundings and where anyone could go, for the price of a coffee.



Coffee beans came to Europe (Venice) in the mid 17th century and coffee houses spread rapidly across both continental Europe and the British Isles. As in Arabia in the14th century, these coffee houses, especially in London, quickly became the established meeting places of insurance brokers (Lloyd's), politicians, philosophers and book dealers. The opening of the first American coffee house in Boston followed in 1689.

It is understandable why the number of coffee houses grew so quickly following the introduction of coffee, especially when we see the pleasurable effect that coffee drinking has on social interaction, conversation and debate.

But what is the nature of pleasure?

For many years, behaviourists (1) believed that pleasure was an irrelevant concept, but as more biological factors such as a pleasure receptor were discovered (2), psychologists increasingly sought to explain pleasure by way of reward (3). However, focusing just on the principles of behaviourism does not seem to fit in with the way coffee, in coffee shops and bars, has been used socially for the last 450 or more years. The human reward system certainly does respond to the administration of caffeine, but for true psychological stimulation and pleasure, it is a cup of coffee that is needed. In fact, it would be an odd hedonist who found pleasure in a cup of caffeine sulphate and warm water! (4).

The existence of different types of coffee bean from South America, Africa, India, the Middle East and North America, together with the rituals of roasting, grinding and serving, highlights the contribution of our senses in giving us our perceived pleasure of drinking coffee. What we see, smell and taste all contribute to making the satisfaction of drinking coffee an experience where the total effect is often far greater than the sum of the component parts. Add to these sensory judgements our previous enjoyment of the drink, and therefore our expectations, and it is not difficult to appreciate how we may find such wide ranging reaction among our friends and colleagues to a similar solution of caffeine!

Pleasure v. Stress?

Pleasure is one of the main antidotes to boredom. It is an activity that helps reduce the stress and anxiety which is a necessary feature of everyday activities (5). It is now believed that pleasure plays a significant role in producing a healthy immune system (6). Stress produces a rise in blood levels of the hormone, cortisol, which causes individuals to feel distressed and helpless with worry whereas satisfying and happy events lead to a decrease in the blood concentrations of cortisol (7). It is well established that caffeine consumption can enhance overall alertness, reduce tiredness and fatigue, and improve human memory and recognition (8). Drinking a cup of coffee is therefore helpful in counteracting sleepiness during the day and also mental sluggishness, brought about by prolonged concentration and mental effort, such as in a repetitive job.



More importantly, caffeine has been shown to induce a positive effect (9) and it is this ability to lift an individual's mood that makes coffee an important source of pleasurable activity and individual happiness. It has long been recognised (10) that our appreciation and assessment of our own happiness reflects our overall quality of life. In short, the happier we are, the more our daily life is perceived as satisfying and free from stress.

Coffee promotes social interaction

Coffee raises mood, improves our concentration and may even promote the well-being of the immune system, so enhancing our ability to cope not only with life, but to enjoy it. Coffee can also be seen as one of those natural products, which promotes well being and perceived quality of life, without the adverse effects on behaviour, the loss of self-control and intoxication that is often associated with the use of other social agents, such as alcohol.

So it is easy to understand the rapid growth of the coffee house throughout Europe and elsewhere following the introduction of coffee beans to Venice in 1625. Coffee not only gives us an increased sense of pleasure, and enjoyment of life, but this in turn makes us more than ready to indulge in that most human of activities – social interaction – the sharing of experiences, and the simple but enduring pleasure of enjoying each other's company and conversation.


Coffee that promotes health and social interaction at - http://bit.ly/buY1J

Coffee and the Affects on Cancers

In 1991 the International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC), which is part of the World Health Organisation, classified coffee as being “possibly carcinogenic to bladder cancer” This classification was given because there was insufficient data available at the time to be more specific (2). However the report also stated that drinking coffee may even help to protect against some forms of cancer. This resulted in many further studies being undertaken.

Since 1991, the results of those studies have shown data about four main cancer sites that would be of interest to coffee drinkers. They are bowel (colorectal), pancreatic, bladder and liver cancers.

Bowel Cancer

The latest estimate is that about 2 out of 3 bowel cancers may be preventable by changes in diet and lifestyle, but there is no one diet that can guarantee you will not get bowel cancer (1).

Several studies have found that coffee consumption is related to a lower risk of bowel cancer. According to one study in Canada, the risk reduced as coffee drinking rose to five cups a day (especially evident in men) (3). Another group of studies noted there was a 28% reduction in the risk of developing colorectal cancer for those drinking four or more cups of coffee daily as compared to those drinking less than one cup (4).

This lower risk of colorectal cancer, among moderate and regular coffee drinkers, was observed consistently in over a dozen studies undertaken in a variety of settings in Asia, Northern and Southern Europe, and North America.

However there are a number of studies that did not reach this conclusion, but allowances were not made in those studies for other factors, such as smoking and alcohol consumption, which are known to have an impact on an individual's cancer risk.

How does it work?

Apart from increasing movement of food in the bowel, and thereby reducing the exposure time to cancer inducing substances in the colon(5), coffee is believed to help reduce the output of bile acids, which are known to play an active part in promoting cancer in the colon(6). Coffee also contains several compounds with strong antioxidant properties, such as caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid (7, 8), and others - such as cafestol and kahweol - with anticarcinogenic activity (9). Antioxidants are thought to play a significant role in protecting our cells and tissues from oxidative damage.

Pancreatic Cancer

Most experts do not think there is a link between coffee and pancreatic cancer. Since the 1991 IARC Report, results of seven major studies have been published. No association emerged in a study of 17,633 American men (10), or in another Norwegian study (11). Three other studies in the US involving 14,000 retired residents (12), the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (13) and the Nurses' Health Study cases (13), all confirmed no association between drinking coffee and increased risk of cancer of the pancreas.

Some years ago some studies showed a possible link, but in one of those studies, when smoking was allowed for, the association with coffee was not considered statistically significant. (14). One further study even found an inverse relationship showing that the risk of developing pancreatic cancer was reduced in coffee drinkers (15).

Bladder Cancer

Since the publication of the IARC Report in 1991, several studies have been undertaken on coffee and bladder cancer. One aspect of these studies was to try to establish whether the reported small association with coffee was the cause, or whether cigarette smoking, known to be a risk factor for bladder cancer, had been misclassified in those studies.

In an analysis of 10 European studies restricted to 564 non smokers, there was no excess risk in coffee drinkers (16). In a Norwegian study no significant association was seen between a high coffee consumption (greater than or equal to 7 cups per day) and the risk of developing bladder cancer, and these results applied to both men and women participating in the study (11). More recently a study in the Netherlands identified 569 bladder cancer cases in a study population of 3,123 men and women (17).

After making allowances for other possible causes, no significant association between coffee consumption and the risk of developing bladder cancer was seen in men, but in women there was a significant inverse association i.e. a lower risk in those who consumed coffee.

So the large amount of data from a number of population studies on coffee and bladder cancer risk clearly excludes, after making allowances for other possible causes, a strong association between coffee consumption and the risk of developing bladder cancer. Where a moderate association is sometimes observed, it is possibly due to links with cigarette smoking and other factors.

Liver Cancer

Coffee drinking has been shown to be inversely related to the risk of cirrhosis in studies from North America and Europe (18) and, as cirrhosis is often a starting point for liver cancer, this is significant.

Several studies on a potentially favourable effect of coffee on liver cancer have also been published over the last two decades and the relationship between coffee drinking and the risk of primary liver cancer has been examined in at least six studies.

In one Japanese study of 334 subjects, who consumed coffee on a daily basis, results showed they had a lower risk of developing liver cancer than those who almost never drank coffee, and the risk decreased with the amount of coffee consumed. Compared with non-drinkers, the relative risk for those drinking 1-2 cups per day was a 50% reduction, whereas for those drinking more than 5 cups per day, it was a 75% reduction in risk (19). In a recent Greek study (20) of 333 subjects, results showed that those who drank around 3 cups of coffee a day (20 cups a week) had a 30% reduction in risk compared to non drinkers.

In another hospital based study in Italy, involving 250 cases and 500 controls, similar conclusions were reached i.e.compared with non coffee drinkers, those drinking 1 - 2 cups per day reduced their risk by 20% whereas those drinking 3 - 4 cups reduced their risk by 60% and those drinking 5 or more cups per day had a 70% less risk of developing liver cancer (21). Finally, the findings of these studies were further endorsed when a pooled analysis consisting of over 60,000 people was undertaken (22). The findings confirmed a significant inverse association between coffee consumption and the risk of liver cancer.

How does it work?

Various components of coffee have been related to such a positive effect, including caffeine, coffee oils kahweol of cafestol, and antioxidant substances from coffee, but no definite evidence is available.

However most scientists agree that it is probably the antioxidants in coffee, working in conjunction with caffeine, which results in this positive effect. Caffeine is already known to help protect against liver cirrhosis and given the weight of evidence from population studies, coffee appears to have a real effect in reducing the risk of liver cancer.

Conclusions

The large amount of data on bladder cancer allows us to exclude a strong association with coffee intake and, likewise, other scientific studies also strongly suggest no association between coffee and pancreatic cancer risk. For bowel (colorectal) cancer, most studies reported an inverse association i.e. a positive effect resulting from coffee consumption whereas evidence from population studies concerning liver, and probably oral and oesophageal, cancers consistently showed a positive effect with coffee consumption.

Click Here - Try these specialized healthy coffees.

Your Brain & Coffee: How Does Coffee Affect the Brain's Memory

We have just celebrated the Millennium and amongst many other activities, there was one celebration to mark the start of the Century of the Brain. A new encyclopaedia has also just been published on the use of the brain, and in the early 90's so many people were interested in the power of memory that the first World Memory Championship was held.

So, what do we know of the brain and its role in thinking and memory?

Whilst we all worry that our memory is inadequate, there is increasing evidence that our memories are far better than ever we thought. It might decline with age but only if it is not used. Like breathing, when all is well, things runs so smoothly that we hardly notice what our memory does for us each day. Everything we do throughout the day is a function of our memories and it is only because the occasions when we forget are so rare, that we notice it so much!

From the time when we were first aware of using our mind to cope with our surroundings, we have acknowledged the powerful advantages of a good memory in society. The Greeks in the 6th Century BC were the first to develop physical rather than spiritual ideas about the memory. It was thought at that time that memory was a mixture of light and dark or heat and cold and as long as the mixture remained unstirred, the memory would be perfect.

It was Plato in the early 4th Century BC who introduced the Wax Tablet Hypothesis and this theory was accepted until relatively recently. Plato's theory was that impressions were made on the mind in much the same way as on wax and there they would remain until time wore them away. A smooth surface was therefore equivalent to complete forgetting.

At this stage memory was not linked to any particular organ of the body and it was not until Aristotle nearly a hundred years later attributed to the heart, most of the functions now associated with the brain. He also developed the concepts of associating ideas and images that is accepted today as being of paramount importance to memory function.

Little new thinking happened during the next 500 years until in the 2nd Century AD, when a physician called Galen, put forward some ideas that linked memory to the function of the soul and that the soul was located in the brain. This idea was rapidly taken up by the Church and there was little done, even by the great thinkers, such as Descartes, to oppose this doctrine until the 17th Century.

It was only with the development of new areas of science in the 18th and 19th Century that the links between electrical forces and brain functions began to emerge. Further advances in technology and biochemistry enabled research to demonstrate by the late 1950's that RNA, a complex molecule derived for DNA, is involved in much of the our ability to think and remember

Modern research has taken a further step by suggesting that it is possible that each brain cell in itself can act as a mini-brain. The brain is enormously complex and offers researchers and scientists some very exciting work as they begin to understand the incredible potential of the memory.

How does coffee affect memory?

Memory can be divided in Short Term Memory (STM), working memory (the part that is using active information) and Long Term Memory (LTM). Coffee helps mainly with STM and the working memory when normal amounts of information have to be dealt with

Coffee helps to improve alertness, attention and wakefulness and by that means it facilitates learning. In other words, coffee helps optimise the energy sources you have for learning**.

It also compensates fatigue by increasing the level of alertness. The benefits are found mostly during the course of a long exam or test, when you get tired.

Will coffee lead to better focussed attention when studying?

Yes. Drinking coffee helps to focus your attention to the main task, when there are many things around needing your attention. It draws attention to what you need to learn and leads to less distraction although doing different things at the same time may in itself be stimulating enough.

However, drinking more will result in over- stimulation and that may impair your learning and attention.

Is it sensible to drink coffee while doing exams?

Doing exams is an energy - and attention demanding activity; coffee may help to sharpen your mind, assuming that you are a regular coffee drinker. Since, coffee is used as a mood optimiser, it may help to find the most appropriate state of mind to make a success of the exam.

If you are not a regular coffee drinker, then coffee may not be your best choice. So, in that case, stick to the drink you are accustomed to.

If I feel my concentration is fading, is coffee helpful in refreshing it?

Yes. Although concentration is also a question of putting effort into what you are doing. If your concentration slips away, take a break with coffee and this change of mind may help you to concentrate again.

Click here for some recommended coffees that will help with memory.

Workplace & Coffee: How To Stop the Post Lunch Dip

It's a great feeling to sink into a comfortable chair after an enjoyable lunch and give in to that sleepy feeling. But what happens if you have to get on with the job and that job demands focus and attention and any small lapse of concentration could have serious consequences?

Sound dramatic? Then think of some of the safety critical jobs that affect us all on a daily basis e.g. bus and train drivers, air traffic controllers or machine operators.

It's not just your imagination - there is now significant evidence to show the existence of a post lunch dip in our ability to sustain attention. The effects on human error are widespread with performance being impaired by as much as 10%. The potential consequences in safety critical jobs could be catastrophic.

Some people are able to arrange their after lunch work schedules so that they avoid tasks involving sustained attention and switch to those of short duration e.g. keeping routine letters and paperwork for this time thus giving their brains a rest but still getting work accomplished. For most of us, such a choice is not practical.

So how do we reduce the post lunch dip?

Modifying our eating habits will help and eating a smaller meal than usual would certainly lessen the effect, but that is not always possible or even desirable. The alternative is to try increase one's alertness by drinking about two cups of coffee will quickly help restore alertness and for many will totally remove the post lunch dip.

Coffee can also help you feel in a better mood after lunch. Studies show that people who have drunk coffee feel more contented and are more interested in their work. The caffeine in coffee helps to restore levels of alertness - improving performance and mood – just what we all need to get us through the second half of the working day!

Click Here for some coffees that will help you stay energized and more!