When you reach for your morning cup of coffee, you’re probably just focused on getting yourself awake and alert to start the day. But scientists know that coffee is not only a stimulant but has the potential of providing significant health benefits beyond keeping your eyes open and mind awake.

There is research to support such health benefits from coffee as protecting your heart and brain while lowering your risk of Type 2 Diabetes and certain types of cancer- yet there are also possible risks from drinking coffee, including gastrointestinal or anxiety symptoms. It’s clearly a balance of benefits and burdens, but the positive evidence for drinking coffee keeps growing. Researchers from Canada recently published a study finding that compounds found in roasted coffee seem to play a role in limiting the build-up of the toxic proteins in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. While no one suggests that you start downing gallons of coffee a day to ward of dementia, this new study adds to our growing understanding of the health benefits to be derived from that cup of Joe. Read more about the study here. And for those of you who avoid coffee because you think it worsens such skin conditions as rosacea, you may want to pour yourself a cup and find out why the advice against coffee consumption for rosacea patients may be changing. Finally, for some ideas of how to boost the nutritional benefits of your morning coffee, take a look here.