Q: I have heard that too much coffee drinking can cause rheumatoid
arthritis. Is this true? I have the condition and used to be a heavy
coffee drinker, although I have cut back to two cups in the morning.
A: There has been some recent research that discovered drinking
excessive amounts of decaffeinated coffee over a long period of time
might be a contributing factor to the development of rheumatoid
arthritis. Try not drinking coffee altogether and see what happens.
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Most of coffee’s harmful effects are not significant if a person keeps
to two or three cups a day. There is such a thing as coffee addiction
or caffeinism, which causes such symptoms as bad temper, headaches,
restlessness, poor sleep, poor appetite and sometimes hallucinations.
Too much coffee drinking has also been linked with the development of
osteoporosis, although soda pop seems to be much worse for leaching the
calcium out of your bones.
Drinks and diarrhea
Q: What should I give my four-year-old toddler to drink when he gets
diarrhea? I have been told juice and milk are not good.
A: The bacteria or viruses that cause diarrhea need energy to keep them
going and like to eat sugars found in juices and lactose in milk and
dairy products. Also, some of these sugars are not easily digested and
so they tend to go straight through the digestive system.
A study at Miami Children’s Hospital found that white grape juice was
the best thing to give after diarrhea. This was compared to apple or
pear juice. The study speculated this was because white grape juice
does not contain sorbitol, an indigestible carbohydrate found in both
apple and pear juices. Water is also useful.
