Jimmy_luv_coffee Senior Member Joined: 17 Jan 2006 Posts: 4 Location: MTL Area Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Classic Grinder: Gaggia MDF
Posted Sat Jan 21, 2006, 12:16am Subject: Re: Health Concerns with Espresso "habit"?
Well, many studies say the anti-oxidants found in espresso-based drinks help reduce the chances of cancer. Just be carefull not to take too much of a good thing: consuming more than 6-7 espressos a day can eventually lead to heart problems (not to mention the effect all that caffeine also has on your nervous system, but 8 espressos is still better than two big Tim Hortons coffees). Drinking anywhere between 1 and 5 espressos a day is the best (and I heard that such reasonnable doses of caffeine can actually keep your brain functions in shape, just don't go drinking a litter of Pepsi on top of that !).
mcgyver Senior Member Joined: 14 Oct 2005 Posts: 49 Location: Van Isle Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sat Jan 21, 2006, 8:36am Subject: Re: Health Concerns with Espresso "habit"?
"8 espressos is still better than two big Tim Hortons coffees). " Jimmy dude...please elaborate..oh how can such be true (I don't do TH's) but what about the caffiene thing...am i missing the boat with the caffiene content of espresso or what.
---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- Nutrient Requirements Total Antioxidant Capacity of Plant Foods, Beverages and Oils Consumed in Italy Assessed by Three Different In Vitro Assays1 Nicoletta Pellegrini2, Mauro Serafini*, Barbara Colombi, Daniele Del Rio, Sara Salvatore, Marta Bianchi and Furio Brighenti
The TAC of alcoholic and caffeine-rich beverages and the ranking order for each assay are shown in Table 4. Among the beverages analyzed, coffee drinks were the most effective, regardless of the assay applied, with espresso having the greatest antioxidant capacity. The removal of caffeine from the espresso coffee led to a decrease in TAC values of 25–30%, likely due to the antioxidant capacity of caffeine (38). During coffee making, the roasting process leads to profound changes in the chemical composition and biological activities of the coffee bean, resulting in the generation of compounds derived from the Maillard reaction, carbohydrate caramelization and pyrolysis of organic compounds (39). In roasted coffee most polyphenolic compounds are destroyed, but Maillard reaction products with antioxidant properties are generated (40), resulting in an increased antioxidant activity in the ß-carotene-linoleic acid model system (39).
Posted Sat Jan 21, 2006, 10:20am Subject: Re: Health Concerns with Espresso "habit"?
Jimmy_luv_coffee Said:
<snip>...consuming more than 6-7 espressos a day can eventually lead to heart problems (not to mention the effect all that caffeine also has on your nervous system <snip>
Care to back that up with some factual source material? I would be interested to see some research, because that seems like a load of old coffee grinds to me....
Posted Mon Jan 23, 2006, 9:48am Subject: Re: Health Concerns with Espresso "habit"?
I want to see a paper on the effects of espresso consumption on heart health... I haven't come across that one, and you don't give a source...
I find that there are too many conflicts of interest in the production of articles on coffee. Interest groups invest in the projects they may find most useful (Tea associations are known to help out researchers looking for the adverse effects, and the coffee associations help out papers being written with the positive health effects). It's all a bit controversial.
Often too, the papers with negative health effects (especially those released in past decades) did not tend to take into account that many people went out and smoked with their coffee, and this was the leading cause of many of the illnesses attributed to coffee, not the caffeine itself.
Posted Mon Jan 23, 2006, 11:44am Subject: Re: Health Concerns with Espresso "habit"?
A while back I remember reading an article somewhere (not here) about how espresso is worse for you than drip coffee due to the fact that the paper filter removes much of the oil that remains when brewing espresso. Whether the oils are good or bad for your health is another things, but the article leaned towards them being unhealthy. I will have to try and find it again but most people I see that drink either one do it after adding milk, cream, sugar, and all that other stuff that makes it less healthy anyway.
robncindy Moderator Joined: 18 Aug 2005 Posts: 46 Location: Maryland Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: Rancilio Silvia Grinder: Rancilio Rocky/Baratza... Drip: Melitta/Bodum Columbia FP
Posted Mon Jan 23, 2006, 6:51pm Subject: Re: Health Concerns with Espresso "habit"?
This just happened to be a recent topic of discussion on another (non-coffee-related) forum I frequent. It's possible to find studies on both sides of the argument (and of course knowing who funded the study lets you know how big a grain of salt to take with it).
For practical purposes, I think what it comes down to are these two old cliches: (1) everything in moderation and (2) your mileage may vary.
(I never realized that coffee was of such interest in Scandinavia.)
Cindy
Cindy
"In the West, you have bigger homes, yet smaller families; you have endless conveniences - yet you never seem to have any time. You can travel anywhere in the world, yet you don’t bother to cross the road to meet your neighbours." -- the Dalai Lama
Posted Tue Jan 24, 2006, 9:18am Subject: Re: Health Concerns with Espresso "habit"?
Quite interesting reads actually....
One thing I found interesting was that in almost every study I glanced over, is that while there was some "theory" or indicators that coffee might have some influence (positive or negative) on heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, cancer, etc, the same studies also mention that the results are sporatic, and may have as much to do with what gene pool you are swimming in and other outside influences.
In other words...while there is a lot of theorizing going on, there seems to be no proof one way or the other. I wonder how much these guys get paid to do studies with no actual conclusion. I need a job like that!
It is interesting to note that if you look at the work of low-carb and diabetes researchers, they also claim a direct link betwen blood sugar/insulin/blood chemistry and caffeine - i.e. - if you intake too much caffeine, it spikes insulin production, which triggers your body stores fat and go through changes your "normal" blood chemistry (i.e. cholesterol etc.), so while these studies are linking coffee to these changes, if could also just be the caffeine, and nothing to do with other coffee ingredients. Strange these studies don't seem to be doing side-by-side decaf comparisons at the same time....does this seem just too obvious?
sidss Senior Member Joined: 14 May 2002 Posts: 117 Location: Ann Arbor, Mi Expertise: Pro Barista
Drip: Technivorm
Posted Wed Jan 25, 2006, 6:06am Subject: Re: Health Concerns with Espresso "habit"?
Well, I am no expert, but a few years back, when I was undergoing chemotherapy for brain cancer, the oncologists were very insistant that I completely stop drinking any kind of coffee and tea while the treatment was ongoing. After about 18 monts, they said it was okay for me to resume my coffee and tea drinking again.
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