– By Max Seabrook
Coffee is the 3rd most commonly consumed drink in the world (excluding water). But is it healthy? Or are some people correct to avoid coffee altogether? In this article I’ll address some questions concerning why someone might avoid or consume coffee, and if drinking this beverage is something we should be doing.
“Does coffee cause cancer?”
In the past it was thought that coffee increased the rates of cancer. But it just happens that a lot of coffee drinkers are also smokers. However, when you look at the cancer rates amongst non-smokers it appears that there are fractionally lower rates of cancer for coffee drinkers! The mechanisms of how coffee may lower the occurrence of cancer isn’t fully understood but it would seem that at least coffee shouldn’t be avoided for fear of increasing one’s risk of cancer. [1,2]
“Does coffee increase cholesterol?”
Coffee contains fatty compounds called diterpenes which have been shown to increase blood serum levels of cholesterol and that is a pretty good reason to avoid coffee! But fortunately, not all coffee contains these diterpene compounds! Filtered and instant coffees have these compounds removed during the processing or within the filter paper itself. Unfiltered coffee on the other hand does contain diterpenes and the worst offender of this is “turkish-coffee” where the ground coffee along with the diterpenes are basically sitting in the cup you’re drinking from! [3]
“Isn’t the caffeine bad?”
There are people who should be wary of caffeine intake (eg. pregnant women) and if someone wants to avoid caffeine but loves coffee there is always the de-caff version available! But studies show that a moderate* intake of caffeine in healthy non-pregnant individuals actually has a lot of benefits including enhancing physical, motor, cognitive and memory performance! [4]
*Moderate caffeine intake is up to 1,000mg – 1 cup of coffee is around 95mg
“Isn’t it true there are antioxidants in coffee?”
Yes! There are a lot of antioxidants in coffee and once again, instant coffee is the winner! Instant coffee has higher concentrations of antioxidants then other types of coffee brews. So it looks like instant coffee is the best choice so far for convenience and health!
“What about arterial function?”
It was shown that caffeinated coffee may reduce arterial function whereas decaffeinated coffee doesn’t have this effect and actually improves arterial function. It’s unlikely that caffeine itself is causing this problem as caffeine alone was shown to be beneficial for arterial function but may be due to a different compound in coffee removed during the decaffeination process. So it may be a good idea to opt for decaf if you can! But if you still want caffeinated coffee I recommend consuming foods which boost arterial function eg. cocoa! (think Mocha!) [5,6]
So overall, yes! It’s okay for healthy non-pregnant individuals to drink moderate amounts of coffee but keep in mind: any health benefits from coffee consumption can be found in greater amounts from tea! But when you must have coffee, I recommend having it with something that will improve arterial function to negate any possible downsides of coffee. Cocoa is great for improving arterial function and below you’ll see my favourite coffee recipe: Chocolate Orange Mocha!
Chocolate Orange Mocha
1 teaspoon instant coffee
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
Juice of ½ an orange
200ml hot water or almond milk
Optional sweetener: Date sugar to taste
Optional almond milk foam on top!
[1] Association of coffee drinking with total cause-specific mortality.
[2] The potential health risks and benefits of coffee drinking.
[4] Caffeine – Not just a stimulant
[5] Dose-dependent effects of decaffeinated coffee on endothelial function in healthy subjects.