Coffee has had a good for you bad for you reputation. Now, a review of a bunch of coffee studies, shows, it is good for you, again.

After poring over all the evidence, experts declare coffee is (mostly) good for you

"It's impossible that we still struggle to decide if coffee is healthy or unhealthy," says Giuseppe Grosso, a nutritional epidemiologist at the University of Catania in Italy: Good for hypertension one week. Bad for hypertension the next.

From article, ([S]everal [studies] found “probable” evidence that coffee-drinking is associated with a decreased risk of many common cancers — including breast, colorectal, colon, endometrial and prostate — with a 2 to 20 percent reduction in risk, depending on the cancer type.

The review also found risk reductions of 5 percent for cardiovascular disease and around 30 percent for both Type 2 diabetes and Parkinson’s disease. A coffee habit was also associated with a lowered rate of death from any cause during the course of a study. Great news for coffee drinkers!

But there is one group who should exercise caution with coffee: pregnant women. Some studies showed a link (with a “probable” score on the scientists’ scale) between caffeine or coffee intake and increased risk of miscarriage.

The team also solved some earlier discrepancies involving coffee and the risk for high blood pressure and death from all cancers (when lumped together). The confusion, they found, stemmed from failure to adequately control for smoking — a habit that’s strongly linked to coffee consumption. When nonsmokers alone were considered, the data indicated that moderate coffee drinkers gained some protection from these diseases.

Most studies didn’t measure exact coffee volumes or caffeine levels. But in those that did, maximum benefits occurred at around four to five cups per day — the equivalent of two Starbucks “grande” drinks. That’s roughly 380 to 475 milligrams of caffeine per day for typically brewed coffee drinks. (You’ll find at least 95 mg in an eight-ounce cup.)

So how do the positive effects work? Coffee lovers probably benefit from two main mechanisms.

First, coffee beans contain phytochemicals (some of which are also found in fruits, vegetables, chocolate and tea) that have anti­oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. All of the diseases linked to protective effects from coffee start with low-level inflammation, and anti-inflammatory dietary chemicals circulating in the body could calm it down.

Second, caffeine and other phyto­chemicals have specific effects on enzymes that regulate liver function, insulin and glucose metabolism, and DNA repair. All could act favorably to fend off Parkinson’s, Type 2 diabetes and cancer.)

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