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Comment by ravivooda | Hacker News Reader

Well, off the top of my head, expensive coffee at Starbucks usually has better nutrition than road-side chai stalls, in terms of milk dilution, calcium content, etc. which leads to stronger bones, fewer fractures and we enter the cycle of health improvement (Refer Poor Economics by Abhijit Banerjee). This is just something I just came up with.

I'm not arguing that expensive spending per se will improve living standards, but they do tend to boost markets, create new markets, improve the standard of living etc. Debt is one such expensive spending

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Buying an expensive coffee from the largest coffee brand in the world will not open new markets, increase competetion, etc. That seems tautological

What will do what you seem to want is buying from the 'road-side chai stalls' you say are dangerous?? Which is a pretty strange claim to make but I can almost see where you're coming from

I was trying to explain why buying expensive nutritious coffee compared to buying road-side chai stalls, specifically the people who can afford the former but chose the later thanks to the conservative nature, can improve health, in turn, living conditions.

That said, I'm not saying Starbucks is making us better. But a chai chain, nutritious chai stalls, is long pending for India. It's not dangerous, but we are better off choosing the expensive chai in the long run, in my opinion.

How much milk does coffee have to make a meaningful impact. What about sugar in coffee, we Indians love sugar.

What about the fact that most Indians are lactose intolerant?

I think my example would still apply?

You are better off opting the expensive coffee with the alternative options for lactose intolerant people (soy milk etc.) when compared to buying milk from the road-side stalls (right?)

I have been having coffee almost daily for the past three years and I see a significant improvement in my bones and joints. I can feel it and pointed out by the doctor. Note, I take the coffee with whole milk and not the half-and-half or other kind.

So I would guess it does affect in the long run? Personally it did for me. Not sure at a Macro level.

> I have been having coffee almost daily for the past three years and I see a significant improvement in my bones and joints.

I can't believe you are serious, you cannot just make such wild claims without any evidence.

Why don't you do an experiment, cut coffee from your diet while keeping your rest of the diet same with moderate exercise. I guarantee you there wont be any significant degradation in your bones.

Ping me in three years.

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