"Bean" there, done that

A series inspired by a visit to Kauai.

Where, but in Kauai, could you find a tourist activity that’s a cure for jet lag? The southeast shore boasts acre after acre of caffeine—aka coffee--on lands repurposed from their former use growing sugar cane. (Okay, we went from sugar highs to caffeine highs.) The tourist center lobby offers a tasting room with carafes of various coffee blends you can sample with the thimble-size disposable cups. There’s also an employee-led tour through some of the grounds (pun unintended). The company is doing well, but always watching for a certain invasive beetle that could kill the crops and industry. We also learned that decaffeinating coffee meant “outsourcing” beans to a Canadian company which puts them through a rather complicated process.

 

I’m afraid I have become my mother, who could not face the day without a cup of coffee. I don’t spring into vibrant life at 5 a.m. (when my husband does). I have long felt guilty about this habit, aware of purists who drink none. I do have my favorite herbal teas, but I am good friends with a morning cup-o-java. This is a late-adulthood habit, as I had a hard time shaking my parents’ admonition in childhood, “Coffee will stunt your growth.”  Topping out at five-foot-two, I wondered what my problem was.

Then there were warnings that coffee wasn’t good for blood pressure. I admit to avoiding my cup of jump-start once a year when I go in for my annual checkup, lest the blood pressure cuff go into overdrive.  There have been a lot of pros and cons in medical literature about the “healthiness” of coffee, but here are some findings in its favor:

*Lowers risk of depression in women. (I wonder if their test groups were marathon runners who needed no coffee and normal women who moan “cooofffeeeee” as soon as the alarm goes off.)

*Improves some cognitive function (one test said it helped people proofread better).
*Seems to fight off Alzheimer’s disease in mice. (As if we needed mice who can’t remember where the trap is.)
*Might decrease risk of Type 2 diabetes (especially if you skip the sugary flavorings), Parkinson’s disease, basal cell carcinoma, prostate cancer, and liver disease.  (Hmm, my dad always told Mom that she was pickling her body with so much coffee.)

All right, the dire side of thing.  Coffee can be addictive—but so can other things we put in our bodies (drugs, alcohol, food). We can become slaves to an activity (work, shopping, electronic media) or unhealthy relationships (with a controlling or abusive person). We can have emotional addictions (worrying, complaining).

The information video about coffee showed workers constantly checking the beans and roasting process for quality control.  Maybe that’s a key to making sure our behavior (and wants/desires/cravings) line up with the will of God.  Paul offered a one-size-fits-all rule for spiritual quality control: “So whether you eat or drink [remember, he never knew about coffee], or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).