More than half of the American population are daily coffee drinkers

More than half of the American population are daily coffee drinkers. Nothing else comes close,” said Professor Vinson, whose study was described at the weekend to the American Chemical Society in Washington.The study found that both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee appeared to provide similar levels of antioxidants.The American findings are probably reflected in Britain, where people drink about 70 million cups of coffee each day despite the country’s reputation as a tea-drinking nation. A study has found that coffee contributes more antioxidants – which have been linked with fighting heart disease and cancer – to the diet than cranberries, apples or tomatoes.
Fruit and vegetables have long been known to be a good source of antioxidants, but the new findings are surprising because it is the first time that coffee has been shown to be such a rich source of the agents.Professor Joe Vinson of the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania warned, however, that the study did not prove that coffee was good for you because high levels of antioxidants in food did not necessarily translate into higher levels absorbed by the body.Nevertheless, the research – which was funded by the American Cocoa Research Institute – indicates that at least where coffee is consumed in high amounts, the beverage could be responsible for relatively high levels of antioxidants in the diet.”Americans get more of their antioxidants from coffee than any other dietary source. Coffee might soon be considered a health drink following a study showing it is a surprisingly rich source of anti-cancer agents. He’s got a lot of things going the right way.”In the women’s tournament, Sharapova is the top seed despite losing the world No 1 ranking to the American Lindsay Davenport – the No 2 seed – today after only a week at the top.. He obviously had a lot of hype going into Wimbledon after his Queen’s effort, and I think it’s a good thing to go back to basics a little bit and win three tough qualifying matches.”Hewitt, a former world No 1 with US Open and Wimbledon titles to his name, added: “From what I saw at Queen’s and Wimbledon, he handled the situation pretty well. Though somewhat miffed with the All England Club for not pressing his claims for a wild card more robustly, Murray acknowledged that qualifying here was his most pleasing performance since reaching the third round at Wimbledon, where he was given a wild card.”I think qualifying for the US Open as an 18-year-old is a pretty big deal,” the Scot said “I don’t think many guys can say that they’ve done that.

I’m getting closer to the top 100, which was my goal at the start of the year. I know everybody thought I was stupid when I said it, but I still think I’m going to do it.”The wild card Murray coveted went to the Australian Mark Philippoussis, a US Open finalist in 1998, whose compatriot, the third-seeded Lleyton Hewitt, said: “In the big picture, I think it’s a good thing [for Murray]. And when I’m just starting out as an 18-year-old, why is there so much pressure on somebody my age to do so well? It would be better if everybody just calmed down.”That is easier said than done, because a year on from winning the US Open junior title Murray is preparing for his opening match as the youngest British male ever to play in the main draw. His opponent, Andrei Pavel, a 31-year-old Romanian, last entered British consciousness when he was defeated by Henman in the final of the 2003 Paris Masters.Whatever befalls Murray during the next two weeks, he deserves great credit for getting here the hard way, by winning three qualifying matches in three days last week. But that is not always possible at the highest level of an individual sport.”I’ve grown up reading everything about Tim Henman,” Murray said. “I am still in shock that he comes across as a failure because of what he’s done and what he’s achieved as a tennis player.

It may not be long before Murray finds himself all but isolated with the British flag.Ideally, Murray would like to be given time for his talent and physique to mature without being overburdened by expectation. From a British perspective, the year’s concluding Grand Slam championships at Flushing Meadows is notable for Andy Murray’s debut in a major tournament outside Wimbledon.
The 18-year-old Scot is in the company of Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski, two over-30s who, a week tomorrow, will share another birthday. But I think one of the reasons we do well here is that we tell some people: ‘We don’t want you doing that.’ Phil Greening is a classic example.”On his day he’s the most gifted hooker in the world We said to him: ‘We don’t want you playing at fly-half. We want you smashing rucks.’ And at the end of last season he started playing some brilliant rugby You have to play to your strengths That’s what we all have to learn.”.