Is coffee healthy?

Coffee is the most consumed drink in the world. What about coffee and our health? Coffee can certainly have a positive effect on health. However, there are a few things to watch out for.

The beneficial effect of coffee

Coffee consists largely of water and is, therefore, a good source of moisture. It does not dry out your body. It also has a few beneficial effects on your health:

• 2-4 cups a day: 10% lower risk of coronary heart disease (disease of the coronary arteries) and stroke.
• 5 cups a day: provides a 30% lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

Caffeine

The caffeine in 1 to 2 cups of coffee per day is stimulating and reduces the feeling of fatigue. Memory, alertness, and motivation also increase slightly. Drinking more coffee does not have a greater effect. In fact, too much caffeine leads to irritability, headaches, tremors, dizziness, and palpitations.

cholesterol

Coffee contains cafestol. This substance increases the bad (LDL) cholesterol in the blood.

With filter coffee, cafestol remains in the paper filter. Coffee from a filter machine or coffee pad machine, therefore, contains little caffeine. Drinking filter coffee, therefore, has almost no effect on cholesterol levels. Espresso coffee contains more caffeine. And unfiltered coffee from a cafeteria or Turkish coffee contains a lot of cafestol. 

It is not only the way of brewing that influences the cafestol content. There is also a difference between different brands. You can read more about this in the Coffee Test (pdf) from the Gezondgids of August 2016. It also turned out that coffee made with espresso cups contains half as much cafestol as coffee made with Lungo cups.

 

brewing method	Filtered*	Cafestol  (mg per cup)	Maximum number of cups per day**
filter coffee	Yes	0.1	unlimited
coffee pods	Yes	0.1	unlimited
Vending machine with liquid coffee concentrate	Yes	0.1	unlimited
Vending machine with a paper filter ***	Yes	0.1	unlimited
instant coffee	Yes	0.2	unlimited
Coffee capsules		1	2-3
Italian espresso pot (Moka)		1	2-3
Vending machine with a metal or nylon filter ***		1	2-3
Espresso		1,5	2-3
Cafetiere (French press)		3.5	1
Turkish/Greek coffee		4	1

* With a paper filter.

** Number of cups you can drink before it has a noticeable effect on cholesterol levels.

*** On the outside of a vending machine you often cannot see which type of filter is used. You can ask the person filling it or the supplier for the brewing method.

Acrylamide

Acrylamide is a substance that is formed when starchy substances are heated. Higher intakes may not be good for your health. There is not much of this substance in 1 cup of coffee. But when you drink a lot of coffee, it really adds up.

Signal values

There are signal values for the amount of acrylamide in coffee. If the value is too high, the manufacturer must adjust its process.

In 2014, the French consumer association had the amount of acrylamide measured in a number of coffee capsules from Nespresso and L'Or and in instant coffee from Nestlé. The amount of acrylamide here did not exceed the signal values. And all coffees contain about the same amount of acrylamide.

The Swedish Consumers' Association did find some exceedances in the same year. It concerned coffee capsules of the Lavazza (2 out of 4) and Nespresso (1 out of 4) brands.

Coffee substitute

If you opt for grain coffee or another coffee substitute, you may be disappointed. If this 'coffee' is made from chicory, it often contains quite a bit of acrylamide. Up to 10 times as much as in regular coffee.

How many cups of coffee?

Although there is little cafestol in filtered coffee, the Nutrition Center recommends drinking a maximum of 4 cups of coffee per day. This has to do with the amount of caffeine in coffee. For espresso and coffee cups, the Nutrition Center advises not to drink more than 2 to 3 cups a day. There is more cafestol in this.

Pregnancy and breastfeeding

Are you still breastfeeding? In that case, according to the Nutrition Center, it is better not to drink more than 1 cup of coffee or other caffeine-rich drink per day. Otherwise, your child may become restless. Pregnant women are also advised not to drink any, or at most 1 cup per day. Caffeine may be harmful to the unborn child.

Children

Children under the age of 13 are advised not to drink coffee. Young people between the ages of 13 and 18 are allowed a maximum of 1 cup. The nervous system of children is still developing and can be affected by an excess of caffeine.