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Helping Other Kids

One of my idols is the beautiful and wise Princess Bernice Ke Ali’i Pauahi Paki Bishop (1831-1884), who was the great granddaughter and last royal descendant of King Kamehameha the Great, founder of the old kingdom of Hawai’i. With much foresight she envisioned an idea of a school for her native Hawai’ian people, of whom only 45,000 of originally 400,000 had survived in the course of her lifetime. “Her heart was heavy when she saw the rapid diminution of the Hawaiian people…but hoped they would increase again like the people of other races,” her husband Charles Bishop said. Believing that education was the way to instill hope for a brighter future, she founded the Kamehameha Schools as a means to empower her people while maintaining traditional Hawai’ian values. Today the Kamehameha Schools accommodate over 6,500 students of Hawai’ian ancestry and is the largest independent pre-kindergarten through grade 12-school system in the USA. We at ATHENA of HAWAI’I grow our coffee on ancestral lands, and a percentage of our Kona coffee sales will go to help Princess Ke Ali’i Pauahi’s great cause.


Caffeine & Children

There is much discussion about ADD/ADHD and children these days. Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is an impulse-control problem, affecting 15% of school-aged children. Those suffering from the disorder are often described heavy hitting drugs like Ritalin, Adderal, Dexedrine, Strattera e.g., which may have serious side effects at a time when their neurological and hormonal systems are still being developed. Kids may also become addicted to these drugs or sometimes develop depression, and there have been cases where these medications have stopped working altogether. No long-term studies beyond 14 months have been conducted on drugs used to treat ADD/ADHD, and the effects on the brain are not fully understood by scientists. Nevertheless, Ritalin is the most prescribed drug for children in the US! These prescription medicines work by increasing the production of dopamine, which would stimulate the average child to intolerable levels, but strangely sufferers of ADD/ADHD become more calm and focused. Caffeine on the other hand stimulates dopamine production in a much more gentle, natural way with the only side effect being minor headaches upon withdrawal. Giving your child a cup of helthy coffee is often touted by members of the alternative medical community as a safe and natural way to treat ADD/ADHD. The New Zealand Food Authority in 2003 found that children metabolize caffeine more quickly than adults and therefore are not more sensitive toward the effects of caffeine despite their lower body mass. Important however, is not to use sugar to sweeten the coffee (sugar worsens ADHD symptoms in children). A natural sweetener is preferred, as is mixing the coffee with a non-sweetened, powdered cocoa to pleasantly alter the flavor. ATHENA’s parents refused to treat her ADD/ADHD disorder with questionable drugs, so instead she has developed into a young, attentive and healthy coffee connoisseur. That’s pure Kona coffee of course!

Medical Disclaimer: This information is provided for educational purposes only and is not intended to substitute medical advice. You should not use this information to diagnose or to treat a health condition or disease without first consulting with a qualified health care provider. A consultation with a health care professional is the proper method to address your health concerns. You are encouraged to consult one with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your child’s health.
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Caffeine is known to affect how the body handles sugar absorption: A few cups of coffee a day can greatly reduce the onset of type II or adult-onset diabetes. Two similar studies, done by Dutch and also Harvard scientists in 2004, indicate that by raising the overall metabolism, other aspects, like fat oxidation and the mobilization of glycogen in muscles may be stimulated as well. Coffee also contains substantial amounts of potassium, niacin, magnesium and important antioxidants as tocopherols and phenol chlorogenic acid. Coffee may actually help to prevent cavities, as reported by the American Chemical Society in 2002. Due to both antibacterial and anti-adhesive characteristics in roasted coffee, Streptococcus mutans bacteria (a primary source of tooth decay), can't easily attach itself to tooth enamel or settle between the teeth and below the gum line.

Most people over the age of 65 turn into "morning people," so their memory capabilities are oftentimes fading by afternoon! By having just one cup of coffee in the morning, memory and retention have been shown to increase to the same levels of alertness experienced in the early hours of the day. (Study by the University of Arizona, 2001).

Coffee is also mood enhancing! Caffeine is stimulating to the senses overall and highly ergogenic, meaning it increases your reactive speed during sporting activities. It's also been known to thwart migraine headaches, to ease pain and relieve the symptoms associated with asthma.

If you want to avoid consuming higher levels of caffeine,make sure to always serve Coffea Arabica beans (as grown by ATHENA of HAWAII), as they have half the caffeine, but double the aroma of the cheaper Coffea Robusta beans. To know that you got any of the other aforementioned benefits buy only pure Hawaiian Kona coffee (100% Kona Coffee).

Jet-lagged from the long flight to Kona? Try abstaining from coffee for a few days before flying. Once you've arrived, have a great cup of 100% Kona coffee while enjoying the setting sun and you'll be right away on "island time."