Coffee Health - New Antioxidant On The Block

Green coffee beans have supplied a new player in the antioxidant arena. An extract of green coffee beans has been found to have a stronger antioxidant effect than established antioxidants like green tea and grape seed extract.

The active constituent in coffee that is responsible for its many health benefits is a compound called chlorogenic acid. It neutralizes free radicals, and addresses the problem of hydroxyl radicals, both of which can lead to cellular degeneration if left unchecked. Chlorogenic acid also helps regulate metabolism. Compared to green tea and grape seed extract, green coffee bean extract is twice as effective in absorbing oxygen free radicals.

One of the advantages of using the green coffee bean extract is that the negative effects of coffee are avoided. The chlorogenic acid is thought to boost metabolism by changing the way glucose is taken up by the body. And it does contain caffeic acids, which give a boost to energy levels like regular coffee does. But unlike boiled coffee, green coffee bean extract contains no cafestol, which is a diterpene. Along with its diterpene relative kahweol, cafestol increases concentrations of the 'bad' cholesterol, LDL, to levels that over a lifetime might increase the risk of coronary heart disease by as much as 20% These diterpenes also had an effect on the levels of liver enzymes measured. When these are elevated it is an indicator of stress on the liver. However the study that measured this found this was a transient effect, and also that the levels of liver enzymes were much lower than those with liver disease.

As a side note on the health effect of the diterpenes found in regular coffee, it was found that by simply drinking filter coffee, none of these effects on cholesterol levels or the liver took place. The coffee filter removed the offending diterpenes. And levels of these diterpenes in instant coffee are low.

Other benefits of green coffee bean extract include an increase in the effectiveness of pain killers, especially for migraine medications; a reduction in the risk of diabetes; and assisting the body burn a higher proportion of lipids (fats) compared to carbohydrates, which could help with muscle fatigue for athletes and bodybuilders.

Interestingly, on the subject of caffeine and liver disease, further studies have indicated it may in fact support liver health for some people. Those who were at high risk of developing liver disease due to drinking too much alcohol were found less likely to suffer liver damage if they drank more than two cups of coffee or tea a day. This was a population based study, not a clinical trial, and so is not conclusive on the subject. But it does offer some promising information. Those drinking in excess of two cups or more a day were half as likely to develop liver disease compared to those drinking less than one cup a day. Researchers do not know what caused this protective effect.

One of the criticisms of coffee in regards to health is that it leaches calcium from the bones. But this effect has been found to be overemphasized, at least in children. And adults who consume a diet with sufficient levels of calcium will be protected from the small amount of calcium that is lost due to coffee consumption.

So the old axiom that caffeine can stunt a child's growth is a myth. It was based on the fact that in older studies, caffeine was associated with low bone mass  because those studies were done on elderly people who both drank a lot of coffee and had diets that were low in calcium. Recent studies in the US followed 80 teenagers over 6 years, and found no difference in the bone density of those with a high level of caffeine in their diet, compared to those teenagers who had little caffeine. Other studies determined that the amount of calcium lost from bones is small and can be balanced by having sufficient calcium in your diet.

References: Australian Healthy Food Magazine, January.

Coffee: Is It Getting Too Complicated?

Plain coffee is fast becoming a thing of the past. It's now quite simple to whip up a gourmet hot beverage for guest, family, or just for yourself. Nowadays there are a number of coffee clubs and circles in which coffee drinking has become somewhat of a social club. These social clubs meet in the community or on the Internet.

Where did the good old days go where you could get just a regular, good cup of coffee all across America.

It's all because there is a big craze over coffee these days. People are almost worshipping the coffee bean now. People get a thrill out of ordering and buying special coffees from specialty stores. They really like grinding their own coffee beans. They like visiting places such as Costa Rica and bringing back their special blends. And "coffee tasting" seems to be about as popular as "wine tasting".

They even have furniture and home interior designs with a coffee theme. This would make great gifts for the coffee buff.

Coffee got its beginnings around 900 A.D. where it was at first used as a stimulant. It was also at times used as a wine and a medicine. It doesn't look like anything is much different today.

There are not many products such as coffee that have continued "as is" for hundreds of years. And yet people are still scrutinizing and getting creative with it today and probably will be for years to come.

What is also interesting is that coffee is second to oil in dollar volume as a world commodity.

Did you know that there is two times more caffeine in a pound of tea than in the same amount of roasted coffee? This may be good news for those of you who hate the taste of decaffeinated coffee however wait just one moment. A pound of tea will make about 160 cups whereas a pound of coffee will usually make about 40 cups. This means that a cup of tea has about 1/4th the caffeine of a cup of coffee.

The content of caffeine in coffee decreases as it is grown at higher altitudes. If you want less caffeine in your coffee, grow it higher. Gourmet coffees are typically grown at higher altitudes so they have less caffeine than their grocery store counterparts.

There are many different types of coffee beans and way too many to describe in this article. Here are just a few of them:

You have Latte, Espresso, Low-Fat, Organic, Cal, Decaf, Half-Decaf, Black Forest, Cappuccino, Cafe au Lait, Alpine which has brown sugar, Arabian (lightly spiced and without filter), Cafe con Miel (Spanish for coffee with honey), and Cafe de Olla (a sweet coffee made with chocolate).

And you really should attend a coffee tasting at least once. You will get to experience how making and brewing gourmet coffee is slowly becoming a form of art. What is fun about the coffee tasting is that you could get a chance to taste two dozen or more different blends. You may even leave to start your journey as a coffee connoisseur. Any way you look at it, the tasting experience will be fun if you like coffee.

Coffee Facts – A Brief History In Time

It is probably common knowledge that coffee was discovered in Ethiopia. The ‘red’ cherries which the sheep ate and become very active were taken home and tasted and what was known as the devil’s fruit become coffee as the world knows it today. However, this is just one of the stories which revolve around the history of coffee. Another tale which has been around for some time involves an Arabian who use coffee beans to survive an exile and was discovered near the town of Mocha and thus we also refer to coffee as Mocha. As you will read on, there are more to these interesting coffee facts.

Coffee remained in Arabia for quite some time and was a secret which Arabians were not keen to share with outsiders. India was one of the first few countries outside Arabia to get a taste of coffee and then there was no holding back the growth of popularity of this drink. There is a lot of history which revolves around coffee and many legends which exist which help in creating a mystique for the beverage. Famous luminaries seem to have had some kind of brush with the drink and it is said that The Boston Tea Party, so well known for throwing away boxes of tea, considered coffee drinking a patriotic act!

Coffee beans revolved and took the avatar of instant coffee which is used the world over. Many well known words and trends have been the output of coffee as it gets accepted as part of the global culture. Coffee facts tell us that countries such as Brazil have an entire economy dependant on the production of coffee and the United States is one of the largest coffee drinking nations in the world!