Is that morning cup of coffee good for you or not? It seems to depend on which new survey you read. One recent study found that light-to-moderate coffee-drinking adults of middle to old age had an increased risk of heart attack in the hour after their first morning cup.

People already at risk from heart disease from high blood pressure, diabetes or who smoked were singled out in particular. Those who exercised little were also in danger from that sudden surge of caffeine.

According to the report in Epidemiology, coffee may increase nervous system activity and blood pressure enough to burst a pre-existing fatty deposit on the artery walls, obstructing blood flow and causing a heart attack.

Heavy coffee drinkers, on the other hand, develop a tolerance to these side effects of caffeine, so are less at risk.

The American Cocoa Research Institute — which presumably has a positive view of the caffeine beverage — funded a study that found that the significant amount of antioxidants in coffee might provide protection from cancer.

Although antioxidants are found in fruit and vegetables, the study’s leader Joe Vinson, a chemistry professor from the University of Scranton, revealed Americans get more of their antioxidants from coffee than anything else.

A different study found no connection between heart disease and heavy drinkers of filtered coffee. Yet another indicated that any negative effects of coffee drinking upon the heart might rather be the result of genetics.

But if you manage to avoid the temptation of a quick jolt at the kitchen counter, it’s hard to resist it on the street when increasing numbers of competing chain coffee shops appear in the puzzling way of shoe stores, clumped together on every block. This week, Starbucks announced the opening of a further 250 outlets over the next five years in the Chicago area alone.

Actually, coffee is not unlike a new pair of shoes. Footwear never looks better than when it is in the box. Once on the feet, it’s downhill from there. The taste of coffee never quite lives up to its smell, no matter how good the beans and how well it has been made.

But if that cup of coffee isn’t doing you any good and you still insist on drinking it, it may as well do good to someone.

Small coffee farmers toiling long hours in tough conditions in the fields are often not paid enough to cover the cost of production — even in times of glut when the coffee companies can reap bigger financial benefits from lowered prices.

Importers of Fairtrade certified coffee, on the other hand, must meet stringent criteria set by an international certification body and pay a minimum $1.26 per pound to the farmer.

In Britain, according to the Financial Times, Fairtrade sales account for 20 percent of the roasted and ground coffee market.

The U.S.’s Rainforest Alliance, a conservation group and coffee certifier, provides certification that doesn’t guarantee a price to the farmer. But in a market increasingly interested in protecting biodiversity and the ecosystem, its more stringent environmental standards free its farmers to sell certified coffee at higher prices — though often more cheaply than Fairtrade-certified coffee.

You may sniff at the thought of buying yet another niche market product. But Kraft, the world’s second-largest food business after Nestlé, signed on to it three years ago. In 2004, it bought up 5 million pounds of Rainforest Alliance-certified coffee and in 2005, 13 million pounds. This year, it’s expected to buy over 20 million.

And last year, McDonald’s said it would sell Fairtrade coffee in 650 outlets across the U.S.

One way to turn your coffee into a fuller experience is to make Affogato al Caffè. I’m not suggesting it’s either nutritious or healthy. But we have to treat ourselves sometimes.

–Make a strong, small cup of espresso coffee.

–Carefully slide into it a scoop of best vanilla ice cream.