Do these old ears deceive me? Did I hear it right? Coffee, the real thing, straight and not deactivated, is considered good for us?

How can this be? Can this be the same beverage that has been feared by man and woman alike as one that can rev us up to such dangerous levels that it strains our constitutions? Heavens to Betsy! What next?

Can this be the fully octaned coffee that I have learned to approach with care, the same coffee that I stopped offering my guests so that I would not risk the looks of alarm when they found there was no decaf on hand? (Maybe I was overly sensitive, but there were some women who looked very, very concerned.) 

Can this be the same coffee that was decaffeinated in both chemical and "natural" ways to such an extent that I read labels religiously before making my purchase? Now that I think about it, I did wonder how removing a natural constituent of a natural bean could be "natural".

End result: I drank mostly regular coffee in private but either one on social occasions.

But now regular coffee has been exonerated. I imagine there are some exceptions, and I am not a doctor, nor am I an expert in the field. However, I was raised to think of coffee as a friend and source of renewed energy. Both mom and dad believed in hard work, and they turned to coffee when they needed to refuel.

They liked it so much and seemed so much cheerier after a cup or two that I asked if I could have some too. I remember they preferred theirs with cream, or rather evaporated milk or "canned milk", as we called it.

My mom was generally easy going when it came to food and beverage, but when it came to coffee, she made it clear that she considered it an adult drink. I did not drink coffee until I was in my teens. When I did, I took it black.

I soon learned black coffee has zero calories, and I came to think of black coffee as the choice of sophisticated adults, and slim and sophisticated was definitely what I wanted to be. When I was in high school I dieted so successfully that I started fainting, and the doctor diagnosed me as having malnutrition. Hard to believe to see me now!

Anyway, for me coffee carries with it a lot of symbolism and memories. Like most people, I've learned not to have so much coffee that it sets me on edge. And as I said before, I am not an expert nor a doctor, but I'm very glad my cup of Joe in moderation has been given a clean slate!

It's nice to hear on the media that the powers that be think it's actually good for us. 

I so enjoy it.