Ancient Coffee Houses Founded Today's Consumerism Scientists from the University of Exeter, Exeter, UK and Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey have studied the role that coffee houses had in the evolution of the consumer.
Coffee houses are usually full of people, gathered around a good cup of coffee and having an interesting conversation, what is currently called "socializing".
The study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, says that coffee houses were even more fashionable in the 1550's, within the Ottoman Empire.
The two scientists that focused on this matter are Eminegül Karababa ( University of Exeter, Exeter, UK) and Güliz Ger (Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey).
They went deep into the history of coffee houses in the early modern Ottoman Empire and discovered that these places often meant much more than a cup of Turkish coffee.
According to historical data, coffee house customers engaged in gambling, drug-taking, meeting with "young beautiful boys," but also performing or watching entertainments such as puppet theaters, storytellers, and dance and musical performances.
The thing is that early coffee houses were very controversial places and thus they were very often banned by the state.
The authors of the study say that "formation, normalization, and legalization of such a site for transgressive pleasures was controversial since formal religious morality of the period (orthodox Islam) considered it as sinful and illegal."
But as all illegal things, coffee houses flourished, and all Ottomans, regardless of their rank, met to drink coffee. Socialize and have literary discussions, by the sixteenth and seventeenth century.
Also, coffee houses were places where people talked a lot and these challenges of the authority of the state and religion led to many changes within the society.
'Simultaneously, a new Ottoman consumer, resisting the prescriptions of the state and religion, actively constructing self-ethics, and taking part in the formation of the coffeehouse culture, was forming as well," the authors explain.
"Obviously, the early modern Ottoman context was very different than any modern capitalist system," they write.
"But the active consumer may not be as recent or even a chronological phenomenon as many consumer researchers think."
Source: Softpedia
Coffee and your health
New Guidelines Say Moderate Amounts of Caffeine Won't Increase Miscarriage Risk
July 21, 2010 -- Many pregnant women cut out caffeine the minute they find out they are expecting because of fears that their daily coffee may increase their risk for miscarriage or preterm birth.
But a new position statement issued by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) should put some of their fears to rest. The group states that moderate caffeine intake -- less than 200 milligrams a day -- won't increase their risk of miscarriage or preterm birth.
The same cannot be said for higher amounts of caffeine, the group states in the August issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
"For years, women have been getting mixed messages about whether or not they should have any caffeine during pregnancy," says William H. Barth Jr., MD, chair of ACOG's committee on obstetric practice, in a news release. "After a review of the scientific evidence to date, daily moderate caffeine consumption doesn't appear to have any major impact in causing miscarriage or preterm birth."
Variations in Caffeine Content
In general, 200 milligrams of caffeine is equal to one 12-ounce cup of coffee, but coffee drinkers should be aware that there can be tremendous discrepancies in different brews.
The new opinion statement is based on a literature review of recent studies looking at the effects of caffeine on pregnancy. The authors also looked at how caffeine affects risk of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) during pregnancy. While there is no definitive evidence that caffeine increases risk of IUGR, more study is needed to better understand this relationship, the new paper states.
Sami David, MD, a New York City-based reproductive endocrinologist and pregnancy loss expert, tells his patients to play it safe when it comes to caffeinated beverages during pregnancy.
"One cup of coffee a day, which is about 8 ounces and has around 100 milligrams of caffeine, or two cups of black or green tea per day is OK," says David.
No link seen between coffee, prostate cancer risk
Men who enjoy their morning cup of coffee can drink a little easier. A new research review finds that java lovers appear no more likely to develop prostate cancer than other men.
In an analysis of a dozen studies on coffee intake and prostate cancer risk, researchers found no strong evidence linking the beverage to either an increased or decreased risk of the disease.
The findings, published in the medical journal BJU International, add to the conflicting body of research on coffee and cancer risk.
A number of studies have found connections between regular coffee consumption and certain cancers -- a decreased risk in some cases, and an increased risk in others. A study published last month, for example, found that coffee drinkers had a lower risk of head and neck cancers than non-drinkers did, with the risk declining as coffee consumption rose.
Studies on prostate cancer have come to conflicting conclusions, with some linking greater coffee consumption to a heightened risk of the cancer and others showing no relationship between the two.
To investigate further, researchers led by Dr. Chang-Hae Park, of the National Cancer Center in Goyang, South Korea, pooled the results of 12 previous studies on coffee intake and prostate cancer risk.
Overall, they found no strong relationship between men's reported coffee-drinking habits and their risk of prostate cancer.
