It is well known that black tea (that we Indians drink) is a health drink. A concise summary by Dr. A. Enloe on its ten major benefit appears in Heathline, May 16, 2018 issue. A similar analysis on coffee as a health drink appears in the November 28, 2019 issue of Specialty Medical Dialogues, Dr. Hina Zahid writes: “Coffee is arguably one of the most studied components of our diet, with an extensive range of research published in areas of mental performance, sports performance, fluid balance, type 2 diabetes, liver function, neurodegenerative disorders, pregnancy, cancer, and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Metabolic syndrome is a condition which is estimated to affect more than one billion people across the globe and it increases the risk of cardiovascular problems, including coronary heart disease and stroke. A report from the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee (ISIC) highlights the potential role of coffee consumption in reducing the risk of developing metabolic syndrome and states:“The new report of meta-analysis has suggested that drinking 1-4 cups of coffee per day is associated with a reduced risk of metabolic syndrome in observational studies.”
A meta-analysis combines the results of many scientific studies addressing the same question, analyses the result of all these, identifies how well they lead to the same conclusion, and to what level they may differ from one another. It thus offers a more robust summary of the main conclusion and the acceptable “take home message”. Dr. Guiseppe Grosso and colleagues of the Catania University, Italy conclude that coffee consumption reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes, hypertension and so forth (see Grosso et al;. Annual Review of Nutrition 2017, 37; 131-156). Another meta-analysis by Navarro et al; Clinical Nutrition 2019 Feb.,38 (1): 389-397 shows that regular consumption of coffee helps in reducing the risk of hypertension.
People who are interested in finding out more about coffee and health may visit http://www.coffeeandhealth.org, which offers a detailed analysis on the benefits of coffee on health. These all suggest that coffee is a health drink, but in small amounts (3-5 cups day) Drinking too much of it is also bad. Mayo Clinic advises that going beyond this is an overdose, and that the increased caffeine levels lead to migraine headache, insomnia, restlessness, muscle tremors, and fast heartbeats. It is thus wise to limit the cups. Also, it should not be given to children. Pregnant mothers may further restrict their cups.
Arrival in India
Coffee, originally Ethiopian in origin, was quickly taken over and held tight by the Arabs as their own drink (since wine was prohibited) that alerts the imams and the believers. The “Insight” column of http://madrascouriers.com of June 19, 2017 states that the 16th century Sufi saint Baba Budan smuggled several seeds of it from the Arab monopoly, and planted them in Chikkamagalur of the Mysore kingdom in 1670. Although, it might have been brought to the Malabar Coast earlier by Arab traders. It is thus that coffee was planted and grown in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamilnadu. Recently, it is also grown in the Araku Valley of Andhra Pradesh and more recently in some of the ‘seven sisters’ states of northeast India , And this also appears how coffee drinking seems to have become a popular daily drink in Peninsular India since centuries.
But then most south Indians drink not pure coffee, but a mixture of coffee and chicory. Chicory, a native plant, is cultivated and grown the in the Mediterranean regions of Spain, Greece, and Turkey. It became popular in Europe both on its own and as an addition to coffee. The site “Bynemara Tales-Medium” points out in its 19-7-2017 issue that France started using it due to the shortage of coffee there in the early 1880s. Since then the coffee-chicory duo became popular. The English writer Charles Dickens (of ‘David Copperfield’ and ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ fame) is said to have written: “By the combination of a little chicory with coffee, the flavour of the coffee is not destroyed, but there is added to the infusion a richness of flavour, and a depth of colour - a body- which renders it to very many people much more than welcome as a beverage”. And that the colonial British played a key role by introducing what they called as “camp coffee”, a secret blend of water, sugar, 4 % caffeine-free coffee essence and 26% chicory essence. And Indian soldiers and people at large warmed up to it. Over time, South Indian coffee has come to mean a mixture of coffee and chicory in varied ratios, anywhere from 80% coffee and 20% chicory powder to the more common 60-40 ratio. We also cultivate chicory in India - in Gujarat and UP, where the soil and the climate suits it best.
Going beyond south India
Traditionally, the South Indian Coffee confined itself to the four southern states, while tea was more popular and widely drunk almost exclusively in the North, since they produced, harvested and marketed the tea plant and its leaves in Assam, West Bengal and some of the northeastern states, where the climatic and soil conditions suit the plant best. But in recent times, more ‘Southies’ have also taken to tea, not as an alternative, but additionally. And the ‘Northies’ to coffee, again additionally. A major reason behind this has been marketing. Even here, apart from ‘filter coffee’, we now have other genre such as espresso, cappuccino, and such Western introductions, particularly among the city dwellers. What used to be ‘chai pe charcha’, where all kinds of debates, discussions and meeting (or not) of minds, and new political ideas used to occur over tea, which Satyajit Ray epitomised in his film Agantuk, we have now added coffee shops (with free wi-fi connectivity) which are advertised as “a lot can happen over coffee”. But they are not the same as the addas of yesteryears.
dbala@lvpei.org
