I was shocked when I knew that Finland is the first country in terms of coffee consumption per year - 12 kilos per person! 12! For comparison, in Russia this number is 1,7 kilos per person per year! Why are Finns so fond of this energizing drink?
Someone believes this passion for a hot drink is partly depends on the fact that Finns live in a cold country and often have short daytime and, therefore, they need warm, tonic drinks. However, in my home country, where many people live in rather harsh climatic conditions, coffee is not so popular drink. If anything, Russia is in the top four in terms of tea consumption - after Turkey, Ireland and the UK.
Anyway, while Russian medicine scares us with the information that drinking 4-5 cups of coffee a day can lead to dehydration, flushing calcium, magnesium, potassium and some other micro-elements out of the body, increase the acidity of the stomach and can turn the coffee lover into a man with heart diseases, Finns continue to drink coffee always and everywhere: at home, at work and at relatives' and friends' houses. Moreover, they have there own researches about coffee:
- Drinking more than 10 cups of coffee a day reduces the risk of diabetes in men by 55%, in women by 80%. Mortality among coffee drinkers is less than among those who do not drink it.
- Consuming more than three cups of coffee a day in middle age (after 45 years) reduces the risk of developing dementia in old age by 65%. Caffeine also reduces the Parkinson’s disease progression if you drink more than 4 cups a day.
- We get more than half of the antioxidants that our body is needed from coffee and the active use of coffee increases the magnesium content in the body. Coffee phenols help liver function.
Seems like coffee is a healing drink, but mind that the Finnish coffee cup and the Russian mug are VERY different things.
Do you love coffee? I love to drink it from time to rime, but I am definitely more a tea-person. Write to me in comments what do you think about Finnish coffee-mania and whether you like coffee :)