The efficacy of coffee and balloon flower

Women who drink more than one cup of coffee every day have a 40% lower risk of developing knee osteoarthritis than women who drink no or little coffee, according to a study in Korea. The intake of other beverages such as green tea, milk, and carbonated drinks showed no significant correlation with knee osteoarthritis.

According to the Korea Food Communication Forum (KOFRUM) on the 7th, Kim Jae-kyun’s team at Korea University Ansan Hospital tracked the relationship between coffee, green tea, milk, and carbonated drinks and knee osteoarthritis in 5,503 men and women under the age of 50 when they participated in the 2010-2011 national health and nutrition survey.

The results of this study were introduced in the recent issue of “Medicine,” an authoritative journal in the medical field, in the 5th National Health and Nutrition Survey (KNHANES V-1, 2).

As a result of radiography, the prevalence of knee osteoarthritis among all study participants was 41.3%, and the prevalence of women (48.2%) was higher than that of men (31.8%).

The prevalence of knee osteoarthritis in women who drink more than one cup of coffee a day was 42.1%, lower than that of women who drink no or little coffee (48.9%). Considering various factors affecting the occurrence of knee osteoarthritis, it was found that women who drink more than one cup of coffee a day have a 0.6 times higher risk of developing knee osteoarthritis than women who drink coffee at all or little.

In men, such coffee has not been proven to prevent knee osteoarthritis. The relationship between coffee and knee osteoarthritis was not confirmed in men and women who drank green tea, milk, and carbonated drinks.

Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world. It serves as a major source of various antioxidant components.

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease that causes joint cartilage loss, and artificial joint replacement is the only fundamental treatment for patients with severe conditions. It is difficult to find a study that analyzes the relationship between general beverage consumption and knee osteoarthritis in Korea as well as around the world.

Professor Kim’s team pointed out in the paper, “Oxidative stress such as active oxygen plays an important role in the development of osteoarthritis,” adding, “Coffee contains polyphenols such as caffeine and chlorogenic acid, which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.”

Studies have also shown that injection of chlorogenic acid into the joint reduced cartilage decomposition. The reason why coffee intake helped prevent osteoarthritis in women was interpreted by Professor Kim’s team as a result of coffee having a positive effect on estrogen (female hormone) levels.

A decrease in blood estrogen levels in postmenopausal women can lead to bone loss in women. Low bone density is a risk factor for osteoarthritis.

Professor Kim’s team explained in the paper, “It is difficult to find a study that analyzes the relationship between general beverage consumption such as coffee, green tea, and milk and osteoarthritis in Korea as well as around the world.”

Bellflower of high value as a medicinal product

Balloon is a plant that is very familiar with the lives of our people and has been used for ancestral rites since ancient times, and is used not only for bellflower root, but also for various purposes such as bellflower juice and bellflower tea. Due to inulin, it is effective in treating bronchial inflammation such as change of seasons and fine dust, and is rich in iron, so it is good for anemia symptoms.

Long-lived balloon flower over 10 years old is better than wild ginseng! There is a myth that bellflower roots are so effective that they are widely used as medicinal herbs such as folk remedies and herbal medicines, and have high value as medicinal foods. Still, wild ginseng never exchanges bellflower roots with wild ginseng.

Balloons are listed in the Korea Pharmaceutical Affairs (KP), a pharmaceutical process by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in Korea.

Balloon flower

The current Korean name balloon flower is based on the Joseon Botanical Hyangmyeong Collection (Joseon Museum Research Association, Jeong Tae-hyun et al. 3, 1937) written in Japanese colonial era.

There are theories that the name originated from the legend that a girl named Doraji in Sangol Village became a balloon flower after becoming a grandmother while waiting for her relative brother who left for China to study, and that the word Dolji, or young plant with roots, was transformed. Etymologically, the expression of the biceps was changed to Doracha -> Dorat -> Balloon.

Balloon flower

Balloon flower, Gilgyeong

Dicotyledonous plywood flowers and perennial plants of the genus Bellflower

The scientific name Platycodon grandiflorus (Jacq.) A.DC.

The genus name Platycodon is a compound word of the Greek word platys (wide) + codon (species), and is given because the bell-shaped flowers of the bellflower are widely spread like other lantern flowers and plants. The species name grandiflorus means ‘large flower’.

In the 42nd year of King Yeongjo’s reign (1766), Yu Jung-rim added the forest economy of Hong Man-seon to the farmhouse, Jeungbo Forest Economy, introduces how to apply seasoning to balloon flower and bake it, and Sijeonseo, an unknown cookbook compiled at the end of the Joseon Dynasty, also explains how to cook herbs using balloon paper.