Produced from ground beans of the coffee plant, coffee actually contains more than 1000 different plant-derived chemical components. Polyphenols are one family of plant compounds that are abundant in coffee as well as red wine, fruits and fruit juices, tea, vegetables, chocolate and legumes.

Coffee contains numerous phytoestrogens, which are chemicals found in plants that sometimes act like the hormone estrogen in your body. The role that phytoestrogens play in your body varies, however, with some mimicking estrogen and having the same effects as this hormone and others blocking estrogen’s effects.

As part of a routine physical examination, your health care provider may prescribe blood work to assess your physical condition.

Many people suffer from bloating, which is a condition causing the abdomen to feel full and tight and your stomach to puff out. Coffee can overexcite the digestive tract and may stimulate spasms in the bowel that cause bloating, says Dr. Roger Gebhard, M.D.

Mocha coffee is a delicious alternative to regular coffee, but many flavored coffees are packed with sugar and calories, especially with a whipped cream topping.

Coffee-mate is the brand name for a line of non-dairy creamers manufactured by Nestle. It includes both liquid and power forms, and comes in a variety of flavors. People typically add Coffee-mate to coffee when a dairy creamer is either unavailable or undesirable. Some versions of Coffee-mate are also sugar-free.

If you are trying to curb your caffeine intake, you can still enjoy the experience of coffee by drinking a decaffeinated variety. Before you reach for your next cup of decaf, know that decaf coffee is not necessarily caffeine-free.

If you enjoy coffee, you appreciate its acidic flavor. Chlorogenic acids are the most abundant of the many naturally occurring acids in green and roasted coffee beans; others include quinic, lactic, malic, citric, lactic and acetic acid.

Instant coffee has obvious benefits: It's usually cheaper than ground or bean coffee, and it's quicker and easier to prepare. Not everything about instant coffee is good, though. For some people, the bitter taste of instant coffee cancels out the many benefits.

Egg shells are alkaline, while coffee is acidic. When added to coffee, the egg shells remove much of the bitterness and mellow out the flavor. Egg shells are also used in making campfire coffee – boiling loose grounds in a pot of water – because the shells help keep the grounds in the bottom of the pot.

Before people learned to brew coffee as a beverage, they ate coffee beans to get a boost of energy for hunts or while farming. Eating coffee beans has the same effects as drinking coffee.

Eating chocolate-covered coffee beans will give you energy because chocolate and coffee beans both contain caffeine. Caffeine is a chemical that affects your central nervous system and increases mental alertness, enhances physical performance and alleviates the feeling of being tired.