In the past I've done a Follow Friday post as an enhancement to the normal Follow Friday tradition. It's high time I bring it back. This week, I'm not featuring a person or even a brand. I'm devoting an entire page of my website to coffee.

Anyone who works for a living has probably benefitted from this magical black liquid at some point in their lives. I used to be a coffee skeptic. This post here talks about my conversion to coffee hater to connoisseur. I've gone from barely being able to choke down a mocha at Starbucks to being able to drink the industrial grade stuff at work black. Nearly every meeting I go to includes a cup in my hand. I have a mug warmer at my desk and a plethora of mugs. It's a go-to for post dinner drinks. My fiancee gave me a french press for my birthday last year. Needless to say, I'm a fan.

Forget about my personal love for it, here are actually some other benefits:

• Great way to prevent Type 2 Diabetes
• Decreased risk of Parkinson's
• Recover quicker from hard workouts
• Aids cognitive performance (why I always go to a meeting with it)

In addition, it apparently isn't as bad of the dehydrator as thought. This article from Runner's World tells us that is takes around 550 milligrams for a diuretic effect to take place (around 5 cups of coffee).

Americans consume an estimated 146 billion cups of coffee annually. It's a large part of our culture, even though we only rank 12th in consumption compared to the rest of the world. So let's raise our mugs to what gets us through our Fridays and is sweet relief on Mondays. Let's hear it for coffee.

Related articles

• Starbucks to Make Announcement on Single-Serve Coffee (dailyfinance.com)
• DrSugar Answers: Caffeine, Coffee, and Diuretics (fitsugar.com)
• Coffee for Alzheimer's Prevention (everydayhealth.com)