Brazil Seeks to Show Coffee's Health Benefits

By Peter Blackburn

COSTA DO SAUIPE, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil, the world's No. 1 coffee producer, hopes to convince people to drink up -- and ease a global crisis caused by oversupply -- by proving that coffee is good for you.

The country that offers school children "coffee breaks," plans to try to show that coffee can help reduce heart disease, countering the conventional wisdom that coffee causes health problems including anxiety and hypertension.

The Brazilian (news - web sites) government is funding a study of 200,000 doctors to see if there is a link between heart disease and coffee consumption.

Professor Darcy Lima, who is leading the study, said it would make doctors' aware of the benefits of coffee.

More...