Essay on Coffea Arabica

Submitted By bheinley
Words: 571
Pages: 3

Coffea Arabica, Also known as the coffee bean, is what is used in one of the most common drink in the world. The coffee we drink today originally came from Ethiopia around 500 A.D. where royalty would brew a weak form of coffee by using unroasted berries from the coffee plant (“Coffee History”). From there, Coffea Aribica quickly made its way to the rest of Africa where it was officially used as a medical treatment for people, especially guards, who needed to ward off the desire to sleep. It wasn’t until the 1100’s when humans began to crush up green beans, boil, and roast them in clay pots to increase the effects of coffee (“Coffee History”). From there, “coffee houses” were developed where people would gather to drink coffee, play games, and share their ideas and thoughts about life. This caused rulers to see these places as a threat and began to close them down. This is when the coffee pot was invented so that people could brew coffee in their own homes. Before you know it, instruments such as coffee grinders and personal roasters where invented and coffee was well used all over the Old World. Coffee, along with many other spices, were introduced to the New World by many famous explorers, such as Basco De Gama and Christopher Columbus, founded the New World. Today, there have been more than 19,000 studies on caffeine and coffee in the past 30 years, most of which have aimed to uncover the drug's exact effects on the human body. One of the most thorough and exhaustive studies was done by Harvard University, involving 126,000 people over an 18-year period (“How Caffeine Works”). Even though coffee contains the drug caffeine, doctors no longer prescribe it; however, they do suggest it to patients for many reasons. Coffee is mostly known as a stimulant, but it also benefits the human body by boosting metabolism, breathing, and increases focus. Even though there are many benefits from the use of coffee, research shows that there are some health risks that come from the use of it as well. Extreme use of coffee is known to increase blood pressure, cholesterol, effect heart rhythm, and cause dehydration (“Is Coffee”).