It may be addictive, stain your teeth and keep you up at night, but one study after another is showing that coffee has all sorts of positive and protective effects on our health.

A review of recent studies of coffee in combination with research gathered over the past 30 years reveals that coffee drinking improves glucose regulation and lowers the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, among other favorable effects.

"Many negative health myths about coffee drinking may now be transformed into validated health benefits," says co−author Roger A. Clemens, a functional food expert with the Institute of Food Technologists and a nutritional biochemist.

A review of recent studies of coffee in combination with research gathered over the past 30 years reveals that coffee drinking improves glucose regulation and lowers the risk of developing type 2 diabetes...

"Scientific evidence now suggests that moderate coffee consumption — 3 to 5 cups a day — is associated with reduced risks of certain disease conditions," he says. These include Alzheimer's disease, kidney stones, depression and others.

Coffee also seems to have cancer−protective properties, possibly because of its naturally occurring and brewing−produced antioxidants.

Some research strongly links coffee's ability to protect blood vessels from dilating as one possible reason that it helps prevent Parkinson's disease. One cup of coffee a day may cut in half the risk of developing this disease.

This review appeared in Food Technology, published monthly by the Institute of Food Technologists.