Food news: Coffee is good for ladies, cheap wine is bad for the environment

There's some interesting food news that came out today. First, drinking three cups of coffee per day appears to decrease age-related memory loss. It appears as though it's the caffeine that has this effect, as tea had the same effect, but men didn't enjoy this benefit. There's speculation that the caffeine blocks proteins that cause memory decline, but researchers don't offer up reasoning as to why only women get the memory boost.

But think about what effect all that coffee would have on the rest of you. Because it's a diuretic, you're more likely to get dehydrated and will have to go to the bathroom all the time. Also, it erodes your enamel and presents unnecessary calories. Caffeine can give you the shakes too -- not cool at all.

Another interesting article is about how wine with screw tops or plastic corks could lead to the decline and destruction of cork trees. As long as there's a demand for cork, there will be farmers who tend to these trees. It takes 40 years before a cork tree produces a harvest suitable for wine corks and there are plenty of other, more profitable crops.

I don't really care what stops my wine from pouring out. I personally like synthetic corks simply because I feel like the wine lasts a little longer and it eliminates the possibility that a bad cork could ruin good wine. However, with all the issues we have with global warming and such, do we really need to wipe another plant off the face of the earth?

So remove your stopper of choice and sip your beverages over these media meals.