Coffee, much maligned for its adverse health effects, may have some benefits after all, according to studies by a UC Davis researcher. It turns out brewed coffee shares certain "antioxidative" properties found in vitamins C and E, as well as in foods such as cooked beef steak, says Professor Takayuki Shibamoto, who chairs UC Davis' environmental toxicology department and studies chemical processes in cooked foods. Antioxidants have become more widely known by the general public in recent years for their disease-prevention and anti-aging properties. While scientists have been aware for some time that coffee beans contain antioxidant compounds, Shibamoto says the antioxidant activity in brewed coffee actually results from the heating process. Shibamoto says his studies show that activity of each of the many antioxidants in brewed coffee is lower than that in pure vitamin C or E. However, the total antioxidant activity may be comparable to that of vitamin C or E.