I resisted the coffee craze for as long as I could simply because of the negative stigma it has always carried as far as health is concerned. But as of the last two years or so, I must admit, I’m now hooked. No, not hooked in the addictive sense, but I’ve been completely convinced to add coffee to my daily regimen because of the amazing health benefits that recent research has revealed about this incredible bean.

There is now convincing evidence that shows that people who drink a moderate amount of coffee have less heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and cancer. There are still other studies that show that coffee may protect against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

For example, 2012 study featured in the journal Circulation and Heart Failure, followed 60,000 women and found that those who drank a cup of coffee each day slashed their rates of heart failure by 27%. Another study on strokes found that among patients with no prior stroke history, drinking coffee was associated with a 36% reduction in hemorrhagic stroke.

And it doesn’t end there. There is now substantial evidence showing that drinking coffee reduces the risk of certain tumors, especially breast cancer. Healthy chemicals in coffee increase the amount of healthy estrogen metabolites and decrease the amounts of the harmful ones. This results in a hormonal situation that is less favorable for breast cancer. The same holds true for initial research in the area of prostate cancer rates for coffee drinkers.

There are some cautions regarding coffee, however. Too much caffeine can affect the adrenal glands and raise blood pressure in certain individuals. It can also make you more acidic so it’s important to eat a lot of vegetables and whole food so you can keep your body in an alkaline state. Decaffeinated coffee should be used in these situations. But overall, I think that enough evidence has been revealed lately to cause most adults to give this beverage a serious look if you haven’t already done so.