Do you know you can decaffeinate your own tea? Family Circle senior editor Gay Edelman does it. And in the October 2008 magazine, she tells readers all about it. Here's what she has to say.

Since 80% of the caffeine in tea is released within the first 30 to 45 seconds of steeping, it's easy to decaf your own tea, says Edelman. Just pour boiling water over the tea leaves or bag, wait 30 seconds, then discard the water. Final step: Brew with fresh hot water -- and enjoy.

Edelman says she can try all sorts of healthy tea flavors with her decaf trick, and she never needs to worry about the jitters. Got any of your own DIY food or drink-related tricks? Do share.

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We wake up, we grab a cup. We drive to work, we have a cup nestled nicely in our car drink holder. Two hours into work, we grab yet another cup with a friend and make small-talk about baseball and world affairs (and personal ones, too -- depending on how scandalous your office environment has become). Then, to top it all off, we drink about two to three more cups before the day finally comes to a close.

Now, if I was talking about cups of water, I would salute you for your smart health decision and even encourage you to drink a few more cups per day. But, since I'm not talking about water, I obviously am referring to the only other liquid we seem willing to consume in such mass quantities: Coffee.

Okay, fine, so we drink a lot of coffee. More than ever, actually. And while drinking caffeinated beverages does reportedly have some specific health benefits, there is just as much information out there pointing to the detriments from doing so. As I mentioned in a recent post, there have been somewhere around 21,000 studies conducted on the effects of caffeine, yet we are still no closer to knowing for sure whether or not it is good for us. But one study, in particular, seems to stand out from many of the others, and it relates to caffeine's affect on blood flow during exercise.

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Whether Dunkin' Donuts, McDonald's, or the infamous giant Starbucks serves up your favorite cup-o-joe, the war of the coffee brands isn't over yet. Folgers, who has been quietly but steadily selling on supermarket shelves for years, has introduced a new "stomach friendly" decaffeinated coffee.

Simply Smooth came out last spring and is geared for those people who suffer heartburn or other stomach problems when they drink coffee.

Some experts seem to think it's all just myth when it comes to coffee causing stomach issues, and there seems to be conflicting data (as always, of course!) on where the truth really lies -- guess you'll just have to decide for yourself.

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I swear, the news about coffee just keeps getting better and better! I hope it's not all too good to be true... Anyway, the latest is that coffee may actually be packed with soluble fiber.

Spanish researchers tested instant coffee, regular coffee, and espresso, and discovered that all contained measurable amounts of water soluble fiber -- with instant coffee containing the most at 1.8 grams per cup.

So, the good news is that your cup o' joe is helping your diet more than you had realized. But the bad news is that you can't count on coffee to contribute all that much to meeting your daily fiber needs, unless of course you plan on drinking 17 cups per day of the stuff.

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In a new study published recently coffee drinkers came out on top. Drinking caffeinated coffee was shown to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by as much as 60%. This is not the first study to come up with similar results, but this one was unique because it targeted people who were specifically at high risk for developing the disease.

Although it's clear that coffee has a positive effect on diabetes risk, researchers are still unclear as to exactly how or why. The caffeine, however, is not thought to be responsible. In fact, the study didn't even focus on caffeinated coffee specifically -- it just happened that there weren't enough decaf drinkers in the group to notice a difference between the two.

As of now there is no formal recommendation regarding coffee as a means of lowering diabetes risk, but this isn't the first good news I've heard about coffee. With all the health concerns and things to think about these days, it seems that maybe fighting that daily "coffee habit" can go on the back burner.

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I switched from regular, dark roast coffee some time ago to decaf (decent organic brands) in order to completely rid myself of caffeine. Soft drinks took a dive years ago, and besides water, morning (decaf) coffee -- most a symbolic thing -- was my way of starting the day.

Actually, I knew that decaf coffee still had traces of caffeine in it. The extraction processes used to reduce caffeine in coffee beans leaves a small trace of residual caffeine, but just a tiny amount.

But just how much is in there? Dr.Bruce Goldberger says that "if someone drinks five to 10 cups of decaffeinated coffee a day, the dose of caffeine could easily reach the level in a cup or two of caffeinated coffee."

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