Ok, so I have only recently developed a deep appreciation for coffee; but it wasn’t very easy to fall in love with it. I found it to be way too bitter and just one cup made me super jittery. Already a morning person, everyone found it amusing that I was running around like a squirrel on Red Bull after a few sips of coffee. I couldn’t drink it late in the day or I’d be up until tomorrow. But, I was committed to giving it a go because I wanted to quit my very unhealthy soda habit. As long as I’m smart about my coffee additives (milk, sugar, cream, flavoring, etc.) it’s way better for me than soda and coffee has some amazing health benefits as well. 

Some Benefits

healthline.com lists 9 unique health benefits of coffee, ranging from the obvious energy boost to supporting the brain, heart and liver to lowering the risk of depression and Type 2 Diabetes. Last time I checked, soda didn’t help with anything other than a slight energy boost! 

That’s not all coffee can do either. According to an article on hopkinsmedicine.org, studies are finding coffee can reduce the development of colon cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease. 

Some Drawbacks

Too much of this good thing called coffee can have bad side effects; for example high blood pressure, anxiety, irregular heart rhythms, dehydration and insomnia. For an amateur like me, one cup a day is all I can handle. The Cleveland Clinic recommends healthy adults shouldn’t consume more than 400mg (four 8oz cups of coffee) per day and teens no more than 100mg (one 8oz cup of coffee) per day. Of course, your doctor might recommend otherwise due to preexisting medical conditions.

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Looking up all the benefits of switching over to the dark side, I found a ton of delicious coffee recipes. I always play around with them, using the ingredients that I have instead of running out and buying a bunch of stuff for one morning’s dose of caffeine. My favorite so far has been a play on Almond Joys; recipe is listed below. Plus, I have all these cute mugs to enjoy my coffee with!

Almond Joy Latte Recipe

• 2 cups milk of choice
• 1/2 cup of coconut milk
• 2 TBS of almond butter (unsweetened for me)
• Shot of espresso
• 1 tsp of cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• Sweetener of choice to taste (everyone’s sweet tooth is a different size)
• Blend together and pour over ice.
• Enjoy!