Y’know, people have been trying to find health risks from coffee ever since it became popular. They’ve never succeeded.

Latest study: (NYT, free reg required, or hit bugmenot): Coffee as a Health Drink. I’ve also made a PDF of the article.

True of decaf as well, turns out that java has tons of antioxidants:

The findings, which appeared in May in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, suggest that antioxidants in coffee may dampen inflammation, reducing the risk of disorders related to it, like cardiovascular disease. Several compounds in coffee may contribute to its antioxidant capacity, including phenols, volatile aroma compounds and oxazoles that are efficiently absorbed.

In another analysis, published in July in the same journal, researchers found that a typical serving of coffee contains more antioxidants than typical servings of grape juice, blueberries, raspberries and oranges.

And don’t forget that caffeine protects you from ionizing radiation, too. Really. No kidding. (PDF). Even SciAm thinks so too.

It doesn’t stunt your growth, either. I can personally testify to that one.