Allies Voice: The anti-diabetes coffee
American runs on Dunkin', I'm lovin' it, and an entity that single-handedly defined tall, grande and venti as synonyms with coffee - you know who I'm talking about. Caffeine is a fix for many of us in the hectic pace of life today. Approximately 60% of America has a daily date with their liquid love. However, rumor has it coffee can innocently deteriorate beta cell function. How can we ensure our luxurious boost isn't suppressing our poor little beta cells? Chlorine has been added to the Nation's water supply in an effort to kill-off bacteria that may have adverse affects in humans. Unfortunately, this decision may have inadvertently contributed to the rising trend of people developing diabetes. The chlorinated water combined with coffee grinds produces a byproduct used in labs to cause diabetes. I called 3 large chains famous for their brews. Survey says people with (and without) diabetes can get the safest cup of coffee at establishments that filter their water.
When chlorine combines with any organic compound from plants, it can produce toxins called dioxins.
Dioxins are environmental pollutants with highly toxic effects on human health (World Health Organization). They affect a number of organs in mammals. Dioxins are prevalent throughout the food chain. Once dioxins have entered the body - their chemical stability allows them to exist for upwards of 7 to 11 years. They are absorbed and stored in fat tissue. Dioxins are created out of industrial processes but can also result from natural processes like volcanoes and forest fires.
Why does this matter? Well alloxan is a toxin that labs use to induce diabetes in research animals. It is also a dioxin. When chlorinated water (most tap water throughout the United States) combines with the plant compounds in coffee, it creates alloxan. How do you take your coffee…err…diabetes? For your protection - I suggest bottled water next time you brew a pot.
Falling in line with the aforementioned public service announcement - I asked McDonalds, Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts if they prepare their coffee with filtered water. Here's the response:
McDonalds: Louise advised me that McDonalds is 85% franchise owned and it is the decision of the franchise owner whether or not to use filtered water. FYI - I take that as the softest way of saying we have no idea what goes in the pots of 85% of McDonalds' coffee. I'm going to venture with a NO for Micky Ds.
Starbucks: Great news! A large corporation like Starbucks (NYSE: SBUX) adheres strictly to their mission of social responsibility and environmental honors. Sean assured me that every Starbucks location has in-house water filtration systems that are used in the process of brewing you every tall, grande and venti serving of their dreamy delights. Rest assured - the water is filtered!
Dunkin' Donuts: Sherry informed me that Dunkin' Donuts uses filtered water, as well. She wasn't able to give me details of filtration systems like Starbucks, but I should hope the good faith of customer service is all that it's cracked up to be.
Millions of people already have diabetes but hundreds of millions can take little steps to avoid potentially developing it. Support the companies protecting their customers' health. Please share the establishments that use filtered water to brew their coffee.
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Allie...Starbucks charging $2.00 for a small container of mediocre coffee, should have the filtered water available.
I do not believe that Dunkin Doughnuts uses filtered water. They have the same low standards in food/coffee as does McDonalds.
As for your feeling that it no longer matters to you because you already have Diabetes. The chlorine and coffee mix can still have an effect on your beta cells trying to regenerate and survive within a "hostile environment."
So, yes it still has an effect.
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I only use Artisian water from New Zealand from Trader Joes to make my coffee for the flavor and minerals from the mountains of New Zealand and I hope that the water from there is pure because at $2.95 cents a bottle it better be pure. But I must admit that this water is by far the best I have ever tasted and I recommend it to anyone who is concerned about this.
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Hey Glenn - I love Trader Joes! I'm a water snob
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Allie,
Great topic. Water quality has been a big thorn under my cap for a good 6 months now.
Along with chlorine, I take issue with fluoride, which is also added to our drinking water here in the States. It's also an endocrine disrupter. While importing your drinking water might take care of it, the idea of the carbon footprint I'd be responsible for from importing my bottled water from New Zealand or France and my beautifully packaged coffee from Costa Rica would just kill me. It'd kill the enjoyment. (Sorry if making you think about it just killed yours.)
I went so far as to purchase and install a reverse osmosis water purifier on my drinking water source in the kitchen. The water tastes great; but, then I learned that demineralized water is bad for you. (Reference: WHO, http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/nutdemineralized.pdf).
You can buy a supplement at Super Supplements called ConcenTrace Trace Mineral Drops, which I did, but it kills the flavor of the water entirely and I'm left wondering if the water I've just "constructed" is good for me or not.
On the chlorine, I'd recommend installing a whole house in-line filter if you can. They're inexpensive (about $45) and just hook in line in the water line. Heating water for showering apparently releases a lot of chlorine for inhalation. It's one of the top things they recommend doing in the Living Green book.
If anyone out there has a good solution, I'm all ears!
Kelly
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Kelly,
The report you link to (yeah, I read almost all of it) is entirely unconvincing as pertains to you and me -- as opposed to those in developing countries, where WHO faces a panoply of problems. Take a multi-vitamin, add a bit of salt to your food, and don't store your reverse-osmosis water in tanks or pipes with potential lead-leaching issues. To quote:
Results of experiments in human volunteers evaluated by researchers for the WHO report (1980) are in agreement with those reported in animal experiments. Low-mineral water markedly: 1) increased diuresis (almost by 20%, on average), body water volume, and serum sodium concentrations, 2) decreased serum potassium concentration, and 3) increased the elimination of sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium and magnesium ions from the body.
My reverse-osmosis filtered well water is, on balance, the very safest thing I put in my body. Having slightly low blood pressure, I do not refrain from salting my food with a good sea salt, and being less than a perfect specimen of health, I take my vits. If drinking such pure water has a diuretic affect, well, I drink more water. It's all good.
--Steve
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Steve,
To me, it's not a question of a minor increase in the diuretic effect with demineralized water - that's too surficial an explanation. To me, it's a question of screwing up homeostatis in your body at a cellular level and increasing a potential inflammatory response of cells that are trying to compensate for the lack of expected mineralization in the water.
At this point, I don't feel at all good about the fluoride and other contaminants in our city's water supply, but I feel equally bad or worse about the RO demineralized water. I'm still seeking solutions...
Kelly
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Kelly,
Please email me in regards to water solutions--julie@diabetesdoneright.com.
My best, Julie
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Steve, Allie,
In followup to your other post, Allie, I went to check out Trusera.com and found Bev Skylar's history on the home page. I mention it here because of her family history and the oddity of her parents and brother developing Type 1 as 50 year olds and 30+ year olds and their collective question at the oddity of it all of: "I wonder if it was in the water?" they asked.
Interesting thought. Could water quality and mineralization content or lack thereof have something to do with predisposing someone to diabetes development??? Check out her story. In short Steve, I don't think water quality and demineralization are something to take lightly. Water is much more than H2O as far as health goes. Mineralization of water is a very interesting topic and is fully relevant to our situations...
Kelly
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