The final verdict on coffee

TORONTO (Reuters) -- If contradicting research has you wondering if coffee is healthy or harmful, the answer is simple: it depends.

A recent study showed a benefit from drinking java on a population level. But it's difficult to make individual recommendations for safe coffee consumption, said Dr. Ahmed El-Sohemy, a University of Toronto associate professor funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research who has studied caffeine and health.

El-Sohemy’s research has showed that coffee could either lower or raise a person's risk of heart attack. That's because safe daily coffee intake is going to vary with the ability to process caffeine, and that changes from person to person. There's no easy way to tell how effectively your body deals with caffeine, and therefore how much of it is safe for you to drink, he said.

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Tulsan's effort to Illuminate, one cup at a time

By MIKE AVERILL World Scene Writer

Brian Franklin remembers the first time he had a real, fresh cup of coffee.

It was 10 years ago, after he purchased a home roasting kit, a book and some green coffee beans. He roasted the beans, poured them in the grinder, brewed, then tasted.

"Whammo! I could never go back after that," he said. "I realized that I had never had a fresh cup of coffee. I realized I had never had coffee that wasn't stale."

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