Drinking coffee has become a crucial part of the daily routine of 110 million Americans. Over the past 20 years, over 19,000 studies have been conducted to examine the impact of coffee on one’s health. There appears to be both benefits and potential hazards associated with this drink. Some studies have shown that coffee may reduce the risk of diabetes. After analyzing data on 120,000 people over an 18-year period, researchers at Harvard have concluded that drinking 1 to 3 cups of coffee each day can reduce diabetes risk by several percentage points, compared with not drinking coffee at all. Caffeinated and decaffeinated coffees provide similar results, which suggests that a coffee component other than caffeine may have beneficial effects on blood sugar levels. Researchers also find that coffee can lower the risks of Parkinson’s disease, colon cancer, and gallstones. On the other hand, some researchers have found that coffee is not for everyone. In excessive amounts－meaning more than whatever one’s body can tolerate－coffee can decrease the flow of blood to the heart, increase blood pressure, and cause rapid heartbeat. In addition, pregnant women should limit their caffeine intake because fetuses are sensitive to caffeine.

         A potato farmer was sent to prison just at the time when he should have been digging the ground for planting the new crop of potatoes. He knew that his wife would not be strong enough to do the digging by herself, but that she could manage to do the planting; and he also knew that he did not have any friends or neighbors who would be willing to do the digging for him. So he wrote a letter to his wife which said, “Please do not dig the potato field. I hid the money and the gun there.”

         Ten days later he got a letter from his wife. It said, “I think somebody is reading your letters before they go out of the prison. Some policemen arrived here two days ago and dug up the whole potato field. What should I do now?”

         The farmer wrote back at once, “Plant the potatoes, of course.”