If you’re one of those people who cannot start a day without a cup of coffee, you should know that drinking coffee is a very healthy habit. More and more research is emerging to suggest the health benefits associated with drinking this dark beverage.

Isn’t it great news? Coffee is great not only for your brain, but also for your skin and body.

In case you didn’t know, coffee has all of these wonderful properties.

1. It helps to de-stress.

Scientists are discovering that coffee may have the potential to reduce emotional and physical stress. New research has suggested that just smelling the simple aroma of coffee and taking up drinking caffeine as a habit could help to stay calm in stressful situations. A study has found that coffee affected stress and induced high blood pressure differently in subjects who were habitual drinkers versus those who rarely drank coffee. Coffee caused a rise in blood pressure under stressful situations in the non-drinkers, but in those who drink coffee regularly, blood pressure wasn't affected by stress. This indicated a potential cumulative calming effect.

2. It's good for your brain.

It has recently been demonstrated that coffee makes people smarter. It allows the brain to work more efficiently and productively, and it plays a major role in improving attention and concentration. TIME reporter Michael Lemonick says, “When you're sleep-deprived and you take caffeine, pretty much anything you measure will improve: reaction time, vigilance, attention, logical reasoning -- most of the complex functions you associate with intelligence." Caffeine can also even relieve headaches and migraines by constricting blood vessels in the brain that are opening too wide. That’s right: a morning cup of coffee can make you a happier person.

3. It's heart-healthy.

Coffee may have many other health benefits. It can protect against Parkinson's disease, type 2 diabetes, liver disease, and cancer. Coffee’s heart-health perks may be related to naturally-occurring compounds in coffee beans other than caffeine. Research has demonstrated that a moderate amount of coffee can lower the risk of clogged arteries that can lead to a heart attack. In the study, compared to people who didn't drink coffee, those who drank three to five cups of coffee per day had a lower risk of having calcium deposits in their coronary arteries, which is an indicator of heart disease.

4. It can decrease depression and make you happier.

A study led by Harvard School of Public Health found the risk of depression to be 20 percent lower among women who drank four or more cups of coffee than those who drank very little. Scientists have known for many years that coffee stimulates the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine produces the euphoria and pleasant feelings that people often associate with their first cup of coffee in the morning. This action by coffee has always been an adequate explanation for why caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in the world. Those who drank decaf, tea, soft drinks, chocolate and other beverages containing less caffeine did not appear to be protected against depression.

5. It may help you live longer.

A CNN article showed that coffee drinkers had lower mortality risks compared to their peers who didn’t drink coffee. “Drinking a single cup per day, which was much more common than a six-cup-a-day habit, was associated with a 6 percent lower risk of dying among men and a 5% lower risk among women.” However, the findings only show a link and cannot confirm that coffee is directly responsible for the reduced risk of death from these causes. According to another article in The New York Times, a study has concluded that coffee drinkers have a lower mortality rate than those who do not consume the beverage. Compared with abstainers, nonsmokers who drank a cup of coffee a day had a 6 percent reduced risk of death, one to three cups an 8 percent reduced risk, three to five cups a 15 percent reduced risk, and more than five cups a 12 percent reduced risk.

6. It can help protect your liver.

Drinking coffee, even decaffeinated coffee may protect your liver, a large new study has found. Researchers examined the coffee drinking habits of 27,793 people who filled out diet questionnaires in a large national health study. The subjects were tested in terms of age, sex, race, education, smoking, alcohol consumption and other factors. The study has found that people who drank three cups of coffee a day were about 25 percent less likely to have abnormal liver enzyme levels. Among the more than 2,000 who drank only decaffeinated coffee, the results were similar.

For years, coffee had a bad reputation and was linked in many people’s minds with smoking, over-caffeination and insomnia. While it is true that the caffeine found in coffee can have negative effects such as temporary insomnia, nervousness, irritability and stomach issues, more and more research today is showing that the benefits appear to outweigh the dangers for most people. So if you're a daily consumer of coffee, keep this healthy habit!