Blog

Coffee is a beverage made from the roasted and ground seeds of the coffee plant or coffee tree.

It all began centuries ago in the Kaffa region of Abyssinia, a province of present-day Ethiopia, with many legends laying claim to the first discovery of the coffee tree.

The most widespread of these is the story of Kaldi, a shepherd who noticed that his goats became unusually energetic after eating the berries of a particular shrub.

He shared this observation with a monk, who boiled the berries and then drank the resulting beverage. The berries of the shrub and the drink itself gradually became known, and by the 12th century they had reached the Arabian Peninsula through merchants. This is how coffee made its way to Yemen.

In the years that followed, through Turkish, Venetian, Dutch and French colonies, coffee travelled and became known throughout Europe during the 17th century. Greece, as part of the Ottoman Empire, became acquainted with coffee earlier than the rest of Europe, while by the mid-18th century coffee consumption had spread across all five continents.

Coffee, in all its forms, is the most popular beverage worldwide after water, and its consumption in bean form reached 9,916,140 tonnes in 2019 (International Coffee Organization).

The effects of coffee consumption on health are the subject of intensive scientific research, since, due to its enormous popularity, even relatively small effects could have significant public health implications.

The best-known effect of coffee concerns the central nervous system where, in reasonable amounts, it improves mental performance by promoting alertness and reducing fatigue. The main reason is that it contains caffeine, an alkaloid that acts as a stimulant.

Excessive coffee consumption may cause nervousness, anxiety and insomnia. For most people, an upper-limit intake is considered to be around 600 mg of caffeine per day, or 6-8 cups of coffee.

In the human brain, caffeine causes vasoconstriction, while in peripheral blood vessels it causes dilation. It is therefore no coincidence that it is used in several medications for the treatment of migraine.

It has also been confirmed that coffee has beneficial effects in Diabetes Mellitus, Parkinsonism and Alzheimer’s disease.

The effect of coffee on serum lipids (total cholesterol, HDL, LDL and triglycerides) has been studied extensively, given their known adverse contribution to atherosclerosis and, consequently, to coronary heart disease and stroke.

The most recent meta-analysis by Cai et al. (2012), which examined 12 scientific studies conducted in Western countries and involving 1,017 individuals, showed that coffee intake over 45 days increased total cholesterol by 8.1 mg/dl, LDL by 5.4 mg/dl and triglycerides by 12.6 mg/dl, while HDL (“good cholesterol”) was not increased at all. Coffee intake ranged from 2.4 to 8 cups per day.

Caffeine appears to be largely exonerated, with attention shifting to two other substances, cafestol and kahweol (diterpenes). These same substances have also demonstrated anticancer activity.

These two alcohols have been shown to be removed from coffee through paper filters. Therefore, boiled coffee contains high levels of cafestol and kahweol, while filter coffee and instant coffee contain much lower amounts. A relevant study showed that, in order for unfiltered coffee to affect lipid levels, it would need to be consumed in quantities of at least six cups per day.

Diterpenes and caffeine would theoretically be expected to increase the risk of coronary heart disease; however, the antioxidant effects of substances contained in coffee, when consumed in small to moderate amounts, ultimately appear to reduce this risk.

In conclusion, it should be said that there is still a long way to go before we can fully clarify all the effects of our favorite beverage, particularly when we consider the different processing and preparation methods, the amount consumed, and the number of substances it contains, which exceeds 2,000.

If, therefore, we were to summarize certain dietary recommendations for people with elevated blood lipid levels, let us see how Dr. Leiv Ose (Head of the Lipid Clinic at Oslo University Hospital) puts it:

“Consuming large quantities of coffee may increase blood cholesterol levels. This happens because coffee contains two substances that raise cholesterol levels. These substances are removed when coffee is filtered. Therefore, filter coffee and instant coffee do not increase cholesterol levels. In addition, tea and coffee contain substances that may slow the progression of atherosclerosis.”

Once again, the principle of “everything in moderation” applies.