In last week’s article I shared how much caffeine is found in food and beverage products, looking particularly at tea versus coffee. In this article I explore how to drink coffee in more depth – the benefits, concerns, how much is too much and what kind is best. The origins and history of coffee enjoyed by most cultures goes a little like this…
According to popular legend, Kaldi, an Ethiopian goat herder discovered the coffee plant. His herd danced from one coffee shrub to another, grazing on the cherry-red berries containing the beans. He also chomped on a few and was soon frolicking with his flock.
History tells us other Africans of the same era fuelled up on protein-rich coffee-and-animal-fat balls and unwound with wine made from coffee-berry pulp. Coffee later crossed the Red Sea to Arabia, where things really got cooking and would later reach European colonies and so on across the globe.
Do caffeinated drinks still serve this modern, over stressed and over stimulated society?
Scientific evidence suggests that moderate coffee consumption may actually offer a number of benefits i.e. 3-5 regular cups a day, is safe for most individuals with no adverse effects. However before you start increasing your cups of coffee, please consider that ‘safe for most individuals’ would depend on one’s health status, age, stress levels and medication intake and the quality and type of coffee should also be considered.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently stated that caffeine improves both sports performance (endurance exercise) and increases attention and alertness. A cause and effect relationship has been established between a 75mg serving of caffeine – the amount found in approximately one regular cup of coffee. Caffeine in coffee also seems to increase motivation and reaction time.
Other studies show that drinking coffee is associated with a decreased risk of mortality in men and women from a variety of ethnicities. Many studies have investigated the protective benefits of coffee to a wider variety of cancers. It is the antioxidants caffeic and chlorogenic acid that offer these benefits. Researchers think the high antioxidant activity in coffee lowers oxidative stress, and that coffee also up regulates the expression of enzymes in the liver that help metabolize oestrogen down the healthiest 2-hydroxyestrone pathway. This is a much-preferred pathway for detoxifying oestrogen from the body and it plays a role in preventing oestrogen-
related cancers such as breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer in men.
Other coffee benefits:
- Lowers risk of heart disease and heart attacks.
- Improves vascular health and does not raise blood pressure. Coffee can increase short-term acute blood pressure, but blood pressure will return to normal once the caffeine is metabolized.
- Improves fat burning, potentially influencing body composition, and it has been closely linked to lowering diabetes risk.
Coffee myth:
Whilst there is some indication of a mild, short-term diuretic effect of caffeine, this effect is not strong enough to counter-balance the benefits of fluid intake from coffee drinking and therefore does not contribute to dehydration.
Coffee concerns and considerations
- Caffeine abstinence can improve sleep, both time taken to fall asleep and sleep quality, though human sensitivity to the effects of caffeine on sleep is variable and genetic differences are known to play a role.
- The quality of coffee varies greatly from brand to brand and the type consumed. For example instant vs a freshly ground coffee bean, the type of coffee bean, organic vs non organic, when it was roasted and how long it has been stored, how it is made. Also important is the type of milk used and the addition of sweeteners such as sugar, artificial kinds and flavored syrups such as caramel and chocolate. I always apply the same consideration to beverages as I do to food – always consider the source and processing.
- Make sure coffee doesn’t replace a meal. This can lead to a lower consumption of healthy, whole foods abundant in nutrients.
- Avoid coffee with meals especially if you have nutritional deficiencies. The main inhibitory compound in coffee is chlorogenic acid, which binds iron. A cup of coffee with a meal has been shown to reduce iron absorption by up to 60%.
- Avoid snacking with coffee eg biscuits. Hidden additives and processed ingredients such as vegetable oil, refined salts and sugar contribute to poor health and negate the benefits of coffee.
- Be mindful of how you use coffee to stimulate a bowel movement. This could disguise an underlying cause of poor digestive health.
- Avoid coffee made with poor quality milks – processed kinds such as diet or UHT.
- Avoid the addition of sweeteners. Enjoy the natural sugars found in coffee and milk.
- Avoid coffee if you suffer from diarrhea, general acidic and inflammatory conditions of the digestive system and anxiety.
My favourite and healthiest way to enjoy coffee
Begin with black coffee, made from freshly ground organic coffee beans. The key to great coffee is a fresh bean. Once opened, whole beans stay fresh for around two weeks, while ground coffee only lasts seven to 10 days. Because of the relatively short shelf-life, avoid buying coffee in bulk (unless you’re a heavy coffee drinker) and only buy enough to last a week. Make or choose an espresso, filter, plunger or percolator coffee.
I enjoy a long black with cream or butter. I am fan of traditional Vienna coffee, which is a long black, and a dollop of grass fed milk cream. Make sure your cream is organic and used as is or freshly whipped without sugar. The addition of butter or coconut oil seems to have hit the coffee scene lately. Bulletproof Coffee, which is basically just a cup of black coffee with grass-fed butter and medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) oil mixed in, was designed to “supercharge your brain function and create effortless fat loss with no cravings.”
Another way I enjoy coffee is as an Espresso or Macchiato (with a dash of milk).
In Australia we have plenty of coffee experts such as Campos and Single Origin Roasters which strive for the perfect coffee. They seek out sustainable farms from around the world and will teach you all about coffee and how to make the best cup.
Next week I explore the benefits and concerns of caffeinated teas and the best kinds and decaffeinated beverages.