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Drinking coffee and tea at midlife may be associated with a reduced likelihood of physical frailty in late life. A study has shown that adults, who consumed higher intake of caffeine via the drinking of coffee or tea, had significantly better physical function at late life. The study was conducted based on information collected from over 12,000 participants, aged 45 to 74 years old, over a follow-up period of 20 years. Coffee and tea were the main sources of caffeine intake in this cohort, accounting for 84% and 12% of total caffeine, respectively. A total of 68.5% of the participants...

Soda, pop, cola, soft drink — whatever you call it, it is one of the worst beverages that you could be drinking for your health. As the debate for whether to put a tax on the sale of soft drinks continues, you should know how they affect your body so that you can make an informed choice on your own. Soft drinks are hard on your health Soft drinks contain little to no vitamins or other essential nutrients. However, it is what they do contain that is the problem: caffeine, carbonation, simple sugars — or worse, sugar substitutes — and...

Anheuser-Busch Cos. will stop making and selling caffeinated alcoholic drinks as part of a settlement with 11 state attorneys general, the attorneys general said Thursday. The states' top lawyers began an investigation of the U.S.'s largest brewer by sales a year ago. They alleged that the St. Louis company had failed to adequately disclose negative health effects of its Tilt and Bud Extra drinks on their labels, made false or misleading marketing claims that they help users stay up late for partying, and illegally targeted minors with its advertising. "Quite simply, alcohol mixed with high amounts of caffeine is a...

There's nothing average about the Joe at McDonald's. The Golden Arches beat out java giants Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts, along with Burger King, in a coffee taste test run by Consumer Reports magazine. The magazine proclaimed McDonald's Premium Roast Coffee had "no flaws" and was easiest on the wallet. "Try McDonald's, which was cheapest and best," Consumer Reports says in its March issue. "Or make your own coffee." Of the four, McDonald's cost the least, $1.35, on average. It "was decent and moderately strong," the magazine says, "although it lacked the top notes needed to make it rise and shine."...

A frightening scene involving the Longview Hands on a Hardbody contest early Thursday morning. Police say a contestant killed himself in front of them at a local store. He was contestant number 4. Quiet, soft spoken and well liked. But shortly before the 6:00 a.m. break, 24-year-old Richard Vega of Tyler took his hands off the hardbody truck and began walking across the street to K-mart. "When I talked to Ricky this morning, he seemed fine. I said, 'How you doing?' He said, 'I had too much caffeine.' Next thing you know , three minutes before the horn blows he's...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A group of researchers have uncovered evidence for why caffeine's stimulating effects stay with us long after we down the day's last cup of coffee. They have also identified a protein that appears to play a key role in how caffeine exerts its long-lasting effect. Dr. Gilberto Fisone of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and his colleagues found that mice genetically engineered to lack the protein, dubbed DARPP-32, did not experience as long a period of stimulation from caffeine as other mice. Fisone told Reuters Health that DARPP-32 may therefore represent the means by...