First, full disclosure. I don’t drink coffee. Ever.

I just never really gravitated towards it, even in college. Too much caffeine in one shot makes me really jittery. I’m a tea drinker.

I see you, my coffee drinking friends, double rolling your eyes at me right now, calling me a coffee wimp. Tea? You can’t relate.

I had one stint with coffee when I was pregnant with my twins. It’s amazing how those pregnancy hormones can make the smell of hazelnut coffee intoxicating.  Coffee ice cream, all things coffee. When those baby hormones came back down to planet earth, my first thought was  “who would ever drink coffee”?

A lot of you do. And I am hear to tell you, I have no judgement. It’s really okay.

A number of years ago, coffee was getting a terrible rap. It was dehydrating and there was no known benefit except for that delicious false sense of energy you got in the morning. I’m sure at one point during those dark days of coffee you even tried to get off of it, or even worse, made that one of your failed New Year’s resolutions.

Heres the current update on coffee. Recent studies have shown positive associations towards protecting against Parkinson’s disease, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and depression in women. It also happens to be full of antioxidants. Drink up!

But wait, not so fast. What happens when you simply cannot make it through your day without it? Or your midday caffeine blast replaces a nutritious, energy balancing snack? Or you’re topping your whole milk double espresso latte with whipped cream and those flavored syrups? Then it’s a milkshake, not a coffee.

But what happens when you blend coffee with good for you ingredients like bananas, cashews, cacao powder and oatmeal? Then it becomes a nourishing, filling smoothie.

So, it’s up to you make the coffee call. And if you do choose to drink it, drink responsibly, as in keep it simple, and enjoy.  Of course, as a nutritionist I want your coffee to mean something. I just ran across this recipe the other day for a Banana Mocha Smoothie that I thought even I could enjoy, and I did.  Click HERE for the recipe and let me know your thoughts on coffee.