Athlete Spotlight Understanding the perks –and side effects - of coffee

about a thousand different botanical compounds.”

NATHALIE MONTIJO NEW WAVE NIGHTINGALE

Last month, I discussed the unfortunate reality of alcohol consumption – it just isn’t safe. As a result, I am certain I lost friends or at least potential drinking buddies.

As promised for this month, I’d like to explore the risks and benefits of coffee. Unlike with alcohol, there are likely benefits to coffee consumption.

Cameron Crow

School: Concord High

Grade: Senior

Sports: Cross Country, Track

Cameron Crow will periodically get asked if he is related to famed writer and movie director Cameron Crowe. Not only are they not related but the Concord High senior doesn’t believe he has ever watched one of Crowe’s movies. The younger Crow has been on the Concord High varsity cross country and track teams since his freshman year but for the second half of his high school career he is not seen too often on the Concord campus. He takes part in the College Now program at Diablo Valley College where he splits his classes between traditional high school subjects and two or three college level courses all at the Pleasant Hill school. He’s normally able to make it back in time for practice run by coach Lanette Stanziano but there was a conflict last year that required him to be a little late twice a week, which meant his long-distance workouts ended after his teammates. "Cameron has been a part of our team since the summer before freshman year. He is a quiet and confident leader and one of the hardest workers and most optimistic and positive runners I have coached. He is always pushing himself to do more and drop time, while still maintaining comradery amongst his teammates as well as opponents," Stanziano said. Crow was a team captain last year for both teams. He is on track to graduate next spring with 30 college semester units and a 4.3 GPA. Those credits won’t be applied for a couple years until he completes a church mission and then enrolls as an engineering major in college.

The Pioneer congratulates Cameron and thanks Athlete Spotlight sponsors Dr. Laura Lacey & Dr. Christopher Ruzicka who have been serving the Clayton and Concord area for over three decades at Family Vision Care Optometry. laceyandruzicka.com

Do you know a young athlete who should be recognized? Perhaps he or she has shown exceptional sportsmanship, remarkable improvement or great heart for the sport. Send your nomination for the Pioneer Athlete Spotlight today to sports@claytonpioneer.com.

“There aren’t a lot of downsides to drinking moderate amounts of coffee –and, in fact, it can have positive effects on your health,” notes registered dietitian Devon Peart of the Cleveland Clinic. “Coffee contains

The best known and most popular is, of course, caffeine, without which society would quickly collapse. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends a maximum intake of 400 mg a day – no more than two to three cups of coffee. I recommend stopping at one cup, or two under desperate circumstances.

Caffeine at this dose may promote cognitive function, lift mood and facilitate weight loss. It is not to be taken in pregnancy and may also negatively impact fertility. It must also be avoided by those with uncontrolled diabetes or heart disease (without clearance from a cardiologist and then only in strict moderation).

Aside from caffeine, the venerable bean is also a source of B vitamins, potas- sium and riboflavin. In recent years, coffee has been found to contain antioxidants and phenolic compounds.

These compounds, also known as phenols, are found in plants and play a pivotal role in protecting against oxidative stress and inflammation. Research indicates that the phenolic components in coffee may provide health-promoting effects not dissimilar to those in vegetables or fruit, albeit at a reduced level.

Recently, moderate coffee consumption has been linked to decreased long-term risk of developing liver disease, Parkinson’s, colon, oral, endometrial and prostate cancers, as well as Alzheimer’s, dementia, diabetes and congestive heart failure.

Before you rush to Starbucks, it is important to

Who makes the decisions about future child’s needs?

Q. I am 20 weeks pregnant and recently found out I will have to go through an amniocentesis to find out if our baby is OK.

To put it in perspective, I am carrying one child but my blood work is elevated as if I am having twins. Since being told, my partner and I have been overwhelmed and have done what everyone has said not to do: We Googled it.

Going through every diagnosis, we talked about our options. My partner finally told me the decision was mine. If our child’s condition would result in them needing medical care and supervision their entire life, I would be the primary caregiver.

I am unsure how to feel about my spouse’s choice to remove themselves from accountability for such a serious decision. Thoughts? – Justine

A. There is a lot to process here. But I would like to pull the lens back and consider the entirety of what may be the reasons for your spouse’s statement.

Take a minute and think about your partner and who they are outside of this moment. What stances do they take morally, ethically and politically? Is it out of their realm to take a view like this?

Consider a reality where a partner understands this decision will impact you far more significantly than themselves. As much as they want a child, you have a right to decide –not only the right now but your future conditions for motherhood. Your body. Your choice. If it is determined your baby may have severe challenges, they may feel you should have the final say as you will be the primary caregiver.

Justine, your partner may be terrified to give you their genuine opinion – fearing your choice will ultimately become a point of resentment toward them. No one can resent or blame you when the option isn’t yours, right? It could be a better-laid plan, as one can always find a way to incorporate another into the fray.

If you believe your partner is not one to hold back, ask them what possible resentment they might have. Your partner may be overlooking the emotional toll your choice will take on them. Do you think during your initial conversation they thought they already knew your choice?

Fear can motivate some and shut down others. It can bring clarity or uncertainty. It can push us into taking the lead or being a passenger. How does your mate handle fear? What tends to be their approach to working through remember that with every pleasant buzz there may be an unpleasant sting. Coffee can interfere with calcium absorption, increase blood pressure, promote arrhythmia in susceptible individuals, cause anxiety and insomnia and encourage the stomach to produce excess acid leading to reflux disease.

In a fair risk/benefit analysis for a relatively healthy person with no cardiac history, it may be not just safe but salutary – but only if filtered. Unfiltered coffee may increase cholesterol levels.

So go ahead and enjoy that cup o’ joe. But remember, coffee is maximally beneficial if consumed without creamers or sweeteners –much like this column.

Please send comments and question to Nathalie at newwavenightingale@gmail.com.

Dominique King Leanin With Love

tough times?

You are trying to put pieces together with nothing but fear, Google and Webmd. You can lean into each other once you know more. Ultimately, if there is a decision to make and it is in your hands, ask questions, assess risk, and think about who you are and your mental well-being both in the now and future.

Be well; you are worthy.

Dominique King is a wife, mother, lifestyle blogger and avid long-distance runner. Email questions and comments to her at leaninwiththekings@gmail.com.

Characters & their connections fill ‘Good Bean Café’

just wanted me to read it and tell him what I thought.

When he returned the following week, I told him I thought the book was good, very good. I said, “Gene, you should be a writer.” Mr. Luetkemeyer chuckled and said, “Maybe, someday.”

A curious thing often occurred to me in my years as a bookseller. I never had a name for it other than connections.

Connections between customers and connections between those customers and the books they were looking for or the books they found. And sometimes a connection between the customer, the book and me.

Joe Ronco

925-872-3049

Over 35 years Clayton/ Concord resident Lic#844344

A customer once asked me to read a memoir of his brother that he had self-published. He wasn’t trying to sell the book to the store; he

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And now, almost 14 years later, I am recommending E. A. Luetkemeyer’s fourth book, “My Year at The Good Bean Café.” Connection!

The “my” of the book’s title is a man named Adrian. He gives up a successful job in San Francisco, returns to college for an MFA and then accepts a position as a teacher in a Southern Oregon community college.

Adrian falls in love with Jacksonville, Ore., a small, National Historical Landmark less than a 20-minute drive to the community college. His life has taken a very circuitous path to Jacksonville.

The “café” of the title is where Adrian goes for his morning coffee, sitting at his favorite table watching the customers come and go and waiting for his almost-imaginary muse Miranda. It is the place where Adrian commits to writing a novel made up of one story each month, with characters real and not quite real.

Like him, each character has their own tale of how they came to be a part of Jacksonville. Each tale has connections to events found in the stories of the tellers and even the stories to be told. The connections will astound you. The “you” is Adrian’s made-up reader named Sam addressed throughout the story.

It is those connections and their effects on his characters that interests Adrian the most. It is Adrian’s book, but Luetkemeyer never lets Adrian overshadow any of the characters introduced month by month.

How many times in our lives have we met someone and found we have a connection to their story? A shared place of birth? An influential book of poetry? A favorite place of retreat? Déjà vu? Magical realism? How do we explain the unexplainable?

How do these events affect our lives? Is Adrian’s own story touched by any of the connections? We won’t know that until the epilog.

What I do know is this:

Gene Luetkemeyer has written a novel that is a fascinating glimpse into how we may find ourselves not quite as singular as we think, and that alone is something worth thinking about. “My Year at The Good Bean Café” would be a great book club choice.

Sunny Solomon is a freelance writer and head of the Clayton Book Club. Visit her website at bookinwithsunny.com for her latest recommendations or just to ‘talk books.’