A new 2006 study that followed 40,000 healthy women for 15 years published its results stating the unthinkable - that drinking coffee regularly is good for you.

The groundbreaking study found that women who drank between one and three cups of coffee a day, caffeinated or decaffeinated, lived longer and actually lowered their risk of cardiovascular disease.

Since we've all been told for so long that coffee is bad for you and can even cause infertility, heart disease and cancer even though the java drinks are the beverage du jour, Lisa Matzer, MD, the medical director of Outpatient Cardiac Services at the Glendale, Calif.-based Glendale Adventist Medical Center, found the study's results a welcomed surprise "most people are not aware that coffee contains antioxidants, which have a protective effect" 

In fact, Matzer says, coffee may be the single largest dietary source of such antioxidants. As with anything in life the key to benefiting from the healthful effects of coffee is moderation - one to three cups a day of unfiltered coffee per day.

"It doesn't matter if it's a latte or a cappuccino," Matzer explains, "but you don't need to avoid it  "[Physicians spend] most of the day telling patients what they can't do, so it's nice when you  can tell them there's something you can," she adds.