Countering some minor concerns (see our sidebar, “Coffee concerns: minor at most”), growing evidence indicate that coffee is probably a preventive-health powerhouse.
There’s little doubt that coffee’s promise stems from its abundance of highly healthful polyphenol-type compounds.
Although polyphenols are often called antioxidants, they don’t exert direct antioxidant effects in the body. Instead, they influence gene expression to produce antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and other beneficial effects.