The Roaring '20s could have been called the Pouring '20s. Coffee-drinking contests were all the rage. On January 18, 1927, the Reno Gazette Journal reported that Frank Trachimowitz downed 90 cups in three hours, 28 minutes.

The next month, 28-year-old Albert Baker, a San Francisco salesman, buzzed right by him, glugging 157 cups in six hours and 20 minutes.  

Coffee offers great health benefits — but only two to four or five cups a day, black with no sugar, and filtered, not French press or drip/percolated.

I've told you about how coffee can lower bad LDL cholesterol, as well as reducing your risk of dementia, cardiovascular woes, liver and Parkinson's diseases, some cancers, and acute kidney disease.

Now, research that looked at almost half a million adults around age 58 for about 12 years has found that two to three cups a day of caffeinated brew decreases the risk of death over that time span by 27%. Decaf reduces it 14%, and instant coffee 11%.

And four to five cups a day of caffeinated coffee offers a 17% reduction in your risk of atrial fibrillation and other arrhythmias; while two to three cups of instant cuts the risk by 12%.

The benefits come from the caffeine and more than 100 biologically active ingredients coffee contains.

Caffeine promotes weight loss, memory, and energy. The other ingredients in coffee appear to dilate blood vessels and protect their lining, change your metabolism, increase insulin sensitivity, and reduce inflammation.