Ulterior Health

What do cholesterol, cafestol, coffee, cancer and glutathione all have in common.

They are an example of how a little knowledge can get you in trouble. Yes, there are some health benefits from coffee.

If you heard about a study from the Netherlands (and others) that when the hot water hits the ground coffee beans, a chemical called cafestol is released. Here is the good and bad news.

One cup of coffee can contain 4 mg of cafestol which could make the cholesterol rise by as much as one percent. The simple solution is to use a paper filter. Paper totally blocks the cafestol. Thus no raise in cholesterol.

However, another study found that cafestol and kahweol, both found in unfiltered coffee, act as antioxidants and may have a cancer protective effect.

To Be Coffee or Not to Be Coffee, Filtered That Is?

In my travels, it seems that paper filters are mostly used in the US. Most of the world does not seem to use paper filters. (If you know of data on this, please let me know).

Drinking coffee (most likely unfiltered) has been associated with reducing the risk of liver injury and cirrhosis. This is a major pathogenic step on the road to liver related cancers. Increased coffee consumption around the world is associated with a reduced number of cirrhosis although it has not been proven to be the reason for this.

One thing we do know, cafestol kicks the glutathione system into high gear.

Before you do or do not filter your coffee, think about this.

If you carried the negative aspects of this to its logical conclusion, if you drank a cup of unfiltered coffee daily and every day it raised your cholesterol by one percent where would you be in a month. Two months. What about six months.

So although it raises the cholesterol level, those levels must also go down. So if your otherwise eating a healthy diet, this should not cause any harm. If your trying to reduce your cholesterol, only drink coffee made with paper filters.

Expresso Health Benefits vs Risks

Like wise, if you drink five cups of expresso a day (which is not filtered), the overdosing of the various otherwise protective chemicals could possibly predispose you to increased risk of some diseases like Parkinson’s. The Parkinson’s connection was discovered in an 18 year study. There needs to be more testing on it to confirm the findings but this should be enough to, at the very least, be cautious as to how much coffee you give to your pet lab rats or your husband (depending on how you feel about them tomorrow morning).

The bottom line, all things in moderation.

TIP For Paper Filter Users: I found that by using two paper filters and two scoops (like come with the coffee) per the 8 cup marking of water, the coffee will end up tasting a bit stronger with out having to put more coffee in the hopper.

To really amp up the taste by buying some of the more expensive coffee and bending one scoop of the expensive with the less expensive it provide a better taste at a reduced price.

Want the benefits of cafestol in your coffee maker. Get a screen. You will save on the cost of paper filters and save the environment form a tiny bit of trash.

Green Tip: Use the coffee grounds as fertilizer for both plants and your shrubs. Just dump the used grounds at the base directly on the ground. I know my rhodendrum love this.

Good health to you (and your shrubs)