Coffee: I need my fix! The Health & Fitness benefits and drawbacks of coffee.

Coffee, Good? Or Bad?

Most of us need a kick start in the morning or a little pick-me-up during the day but the topic of coffee consumption has been scorned by religions and health gurus yet fully supported and enforced by others. So, what are the benefits or adverse effects of your morning cup of Joe!

A lot of the possible benefits or drawbacks of coffee depend on how it is produced and processed, so let's start at the beginning.

A coffee plantation in Brazil.

Coffee is one of the highest grossing crops / commodities in the world. In 2010 there were an estimated seven million tonnes of coffee produced worldwide, with the market share dominating in Brazil and Vietnam. After crude oil, it is the second most traded commodity in the world and has a total estimated value of $100 billion!

Two types of coffee bean exist: 

Coffee Arabica and Coffee Canephora.

Different countries have a degree of varying conditions; pH, water retention, water fall, humidity, all of which contribute to the unique taste of each type of coffee and their subsequent health benefits or potential drawbacks. But it's during the production process that the Coffee bean is at it's most vulnerable regarding it's nutritious qualities.

Traditionally beans were picked only when ripe and only then, were processed. But now, coffee beans are strip picked, regardless of ripeness. Then they are sorted by their size and colour to then fall into production.

The production process:

1. Flesh is removed from the coffee bean leaving a layer of mucilage
2. Coffee bean is fermented to remove this layer
3. Washed with fresh wtaer to remove fermentation residue, leading to mass water waste
4. Seeds are then dried. 
1. Different drying techniques can cause a degree of flavour and nutritional changes. If dried in bulk with layer upon layer, it can lead to further fermentation, lowering the sucrose content of the bean. 
5. Roasting is the next stage as is the most commonly sold state, but, can easily be done at home! The roasting changes the bean physically (increasing in size) and chemically by lowering fibre content and increasing sweetness.
1. As roasting continues, oils develop, most notably caffenol which is released when the coffee bean reaches a temperature of 200 degrees Celcius. These oils are responsible for the different tastes and aroma provided by different coffees. 
6. Chaff is produce along the roasting process but is removed by simple bursts of air.

This colour chart gives an array of different flavours and tastes

To summarise the above diagram: Lighter colours have a more potent flavour due to an increased amount of oils and acids whereas in darker colours which have been roasted for longer, these same oils and acids are destroyed.

Darker roasts also have less fibre but to balance this they have an increasingly sugary taste.

Decaffeination 

This is an optional stage of the process for those of us who wish to take away the effects of caffeine from coffee.

Standardised decaffeination is performed by using two main solvents: methylene chloride and ethyl acetate; however, these two solvents have continuously been proven to cause a variety of reactions within the human body.

These two chemicals are also known to strip the coffee of some of the taste and actually leave more caffeine in it than you once thought. 

A new method called 'The Swiss Water Process' has revolutionised the decaffeinating procedure. 

No chemicals are used at all in this process, making it a far safer product for human consumption. To explain, watch the video below for a more in depth explanation.

Brewing the perfect coffee. 

Different coffee beans from different origins require their own preparation. Some require a fine grind, another may require lose grind. But the most common grind is a medium grind. Filtering is the next stage, and it is at this point where flavour and taste can be affected. Metal filters apply their own degree of flavour so it has been for years, recommended that paper based filters are used. Paper based filters can be messy, so as of recent the coffee industry has started using new gold-based filters, which don't allow for any effect on taste and cut down on paper waste.

Instantised Coffee.

The convenience of instant coffee has caused a surge in popularity in the past decade, with many people allowing for the decrease in taste (caused by freeze drying) for the benefit of being able to brew a cup of Joe whenever they please. But, Instant coffee, although convenient, has many features that differ significantly from freshly ground beans.

• Acrylamide, a well known cancer-causing substance, is of an extremely high incidence in instant coffee. The chemical does occur naturally in coffee beans but during the processing of instant coffee this increases by nearly 4000% when compared to instant coffee.
• Instant coffee has also been stripped of significant antioxidants 
• Also stripped of caffeine content

The above drawbacks of drinking coffee are based on evidence linking them only to excessive consumption. Those who drink only moderate amounts of coffee do not display these adverse effects. So from this we can determine that the proven benefits of drinking a moderate amount of coffee < or = to 3.5 cups per day.

To summarise:

Coffee can be of a massive benefit to us as individuals, it can also present with adverse effects but this only occurs over a very long period of time.

It has also been proven that coffee even though decaffeinated still presents with many of these health benefits. However, it has been proven that traditional decaffeinisation can cause various health problems and so the Swiss Water Process is always the encouraged method. 

Thanks for reading, 

Ethan