Nutritional StudySCI/241Nutritional StudyUniversity of Phoenix Material

Nutritional Study Worksheet

Resource: University of Phoenix Library and the Internet

Topic:

Coffee or Caffeine

Research your topic using 2 nutrition articles that discuss your topic, but provide opposing viewpoints. Use the Internet, the University Library, or the search links provided in the Week 2 Electronic Reserve Readings to locate the articles.

1. No association between coffee, tea, or caffeine consumption and breast cancer risk in a prospective cohort study.

2. Coffee and endothelial function: a battle between caffeine and antioxidants?

Write 50- to 200-word responses to each of the following questions based your findings. Use your own words and provide examples to support your answers.

What topic did you choose? Discuss the position of each of the two articles you selected.

The Topic I have chosen is coffee or caffeine. The position in the first article is that there is no association that coffee, tea or caffeine causes a breast cancer risk. The other article is a battle between caffeine and antioxidant and if caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee has antioxidant in it. The other existing controversy is the impact on the cardiovascular system.

What health claims are stated in the articles, such as drinking coffee every day will lower one’s risk for cancer?

In the breast cancer article the health claim is that the caffeine intake has be associated with high plasma levels of female hormones (Public Health Nutrition 2011). The other thing is that drinking caffeine will not cause anyone to get breast cancer. In the second article the health concern was the effects of the cardiovascular system. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure increased from the effects of the caffeine.

Do any of the articles’ claims seem too good to be true? Does it seem that the authors are seeking personal gain in any way? Explain your answers.

In article one the author has no gain and it is based on a survey that was done to see if women who drank coffee would get breast cancer. In the next one the authors clear states at the end of the article that they have no conflict of interest. In both article I do not see a reason why these article are too good to be true one is a survey and the other is comparing if the coffee has antioxidant in it.

What are the respective sources of these articles (testimonials, peer-reviewed study)?

The two articles are Scholarly Journals and have been peer reviewed. The article on Coffee and endothelial: a battle between caffeine and antioxidant is a comparative study if the two coffees to see if they contain any antioxidants. The other article is just a survey that was done to see if coffee would cause breast cancer.

Is the information presented in each article new or has it been studied extensively over time, achieving the same results?

The survey on caffeine and breast cancer has been an ongoing survey from 1993 – 2005. Within this time frame nothing had change to say that drinking coffee would cause breast cancer. They even look at how much and the time frame that the coffee was drunk but still nothing changed. With the comparison article it does not state that the comparison was done more than once, so I would think that it was only done that one time.

Now that you have gone through the details of each article, do you have any reservations about the information in either one? If so, explain why. Has the process of analyzing the two articles changed your opinion on the topic? Explain your answer.

I do not think that I have any reservation about either article because I know people that drink coffee on regular bases and never have had cancer. If they do it was not related to drinking coffee there is some other reason they got cancer. The antioxidant in coffee is good for our health to fight different type of illness so I have no problem with drink coffee.

Reference

Buscemi, S; Batsis, JA; Arcoleo, G; & Verga, S (2010). Coffee and endothelial function: a battle between caffeine and antioxidants?

Doi: http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/10.1038/ejcn.2010.137

Fagherazzi, G; Touillaud, M; & Boutron-Ruault, M (2011). No assocation between coffee, tea, or caffeine consumption and breast cancer risk in a prospective cohort study.

Doi: http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/10.1017/S1368980011000371