This is me, about to take – I kid you not – my first sip of coffee in 20 years. I gave up when living in California in 1999 (my body was a temple, and all that). The withdrawal symptoms were so debilitating (like a 10-day flu bug) I vowed never to go back. But…..20 years is a long time and the Age-Well benefits of coffee are compelling. When we visited Costa Rica, home of some of the world’s best coffee, I tried it again.
The first sip was shockingly bitter, spreading across my taste buds and lingering in everything I consumed for the rest of the day. That bitterness – and many of the Age-Well benefits of coffee – come from tannins, the same polyphenols found in tea, wine, chocolate, berries and pomegranate seeds. These polyphenols – plant antioxidants – combat cell damage, improve gut bacteria, boost insulin sensitivity as well as decrease blood pressure and cholesterol levels. And we’ve blogged about how coffee benefits cognition here (this post also includes the best-ever chocolate and coffee brownies, aka ‘brainies’, so do check it out).
COFFEE AND YOUR HEALTH: THE LATEST RESEARCH
It’s incredible how, in the last decade, coffee has gone from health pariah to superfood. Recent research has shown that our preference for astringent drinks like coffee, rather than sweet ones, is genetic. But it’s not about taste. Rather, our choices are based on the psychoactive properties of drinks – how they make us feel rather than how they taste. We choose to reward ourselves with sweet or bitter drinks based on their impact on our mindset, rather than whether we think they’re delicious or not. This has implications for weight management, as does a new study revealing that coffee helps burn brown fat, thus improving blood sugar control and blood lipids. Researchers aren’t sure yet whether it’s the caffeine which activates brown fat or another component of coffee. “Once we have confirmed which component is responsible for this, it could potentially be used as part of a weight management regime or as part of [a] glucose regulation program to help prevent diabetes,” said Professor Symonds of the University of Nottingham, who led the research.
Research into the health properties of coffee is ongoing, with new papers appearing on a regular basis. With my family history of dementia, it’s the impact of coffee on the brain that interests me most. Research published late last year suggests that the key to coffee’s brain-protecting benefits lie not in its caffeine content, but in the existence of compounds released in the process of roasting the coffee beans. It appears that phenylindanes (produced by the roasting process), inhibit the amalgamation of tau and beta-amyloid. These toxic proteins play a key role in neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease.
It appears that a longer roasting time causes the coffee beans to produce more phenylindanes. This suggests that dark-roasted coffee — whether regular or decaf — has the strongest protective effect on the brain. “It’s the first time anybody’s investigated how phenylindanes interact with the proteins that are responsible for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s,” says Dr Mancini, who led the research. “It’s interesting, but are we suggesting that coffee is a cure? Absolutely not,” he cautions.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Leaving aside the health benefits of coffee, what I took from my visit to the plantation is the preciousness of this crop, and how – like so much else – it’s threatened by climate change.
There is one coffee harvest each year, and each plant bears around 700 berries. It takes between 70 and 100 berries to make a cup of coffee which means – you can do the maths as well as I can – each plant produces just seven to ten cups a year. Every berry is picked by hand, and the harvest is dependent on a delicate syncopation of climate and botany. In recent years this ecosystem has been disrupted by more frequent El Niño events which alter rainfall patterns. The growers fear that one year the rains won’t come in time for plants to flower, meaning there will be no harvest, and no income for them and their workers.
HOW DOES COFFEE MAKE YOU FEEL?
After my one, precious, cup, how did I feel? Well-caffeinated certainly. I felt buzzed and very awake, despite jetlag, for the rest of the day. I slept well, however. But I have rarely picked up a cup of joe since. What are your views on coffee? When I posted the picture above on Instagram the response was immense. Clearly everyone feels very strongly about their daily cup! What about you – can’t live without it or never touch the stuff? Let us know in comments below.
Susan
I love my coffee and had quite a few cups in a day. I have recently been diagnosed with osteopenia which has meant trawling through all the information on the internet on the foods to eat and those to steer away from. I read that coffee saps the calcium from the bones. ‘Big huff’, so now am trying to embrace my red bush tea again, drinking only 2 cups of coffee a day. I would love to know your thoughts on this.
Hi Toni, it sounds like you’ve found the perfect happy medium for you. The important thing is to be happy with your own research and what you’ve taken from it.
A few cups a day may be too much, I think. But that’s for the doctors to decide.
Love the bitterness of a long black 💚☕️ And several each day. I can’t stand milky coffee though. Very pleased to hear it may be helping my brain health.
That bitterness is quite something, isn’t it? After 20 years not drinking coffee, it took my breathe away!
I love my daily cup or mug! of coffee. I often joke that I have an addiction as I so look forward to it mid morning. However, one maybe two cups a day does me. I love the taste and I feel it ‘picks me up’ and ‘sets me up’ for whatever tasks ahead.
A lot of people have said to us that they feel ‘set up’ for the day. There’s something in the combination of caffeine, polyphenols and cultural associations that makes coffee very powerful.
I drink 2 small espresso cups of dark roasted coffee a day. I love the taste. Caffeine has no effect on me. I can drink a cup and go to sleep. The same was true for my parents. The downside is that it doesn’t pick me up.
You must be a fast metaboliser of caffeine – it’s genetic!
I stick to a maximum of two cups in the morning, very good if I am going to go for one of my very slow runs. I do not drink it after lunch as I have enough trouble getting to sleep as it is.
If I can be bothered I will make it fresh but I find instant just as good. I do love a double espresso, a habit I picked up in Belgium when I used to live on the stuff.
Jolly useful and interesting blog. We have just finished some of your Turkish red lentil soup for lunch. I feel virtuous!
I have one cup of decaf a week and haven’t had caffeinated tea or coffee for years. I love coffee but some coffees cause a bad reaction eg as if I’ve drunk alcohol! Menopause hasn’t helped this and so I steer clear but miss it terribly.
Most of the published benefits of drinking coffee do not apply to decaf so this makes me very happy as I am hyper-sensitive to caffeine.
There is often a sense, when I’m well-caffeinated, of a sort of unexpected optimism. Unlike exercise, which also lends a stretch of optimism, I never seem to expect it. Something about a two or three cup morning makes me consider ideas, projects or activities with more of a thrill, so long as no ladders are involved.
I notice that tea is more productive when I want to get thoughtful things done. If I drink all that coffee I just have to go mow the yard.
Great blog! And how lucky you can do it together. Thanks for all your hard work!
Thank you for your kind words and keep enjoying the coffee!
I detoxed from coffee and tried to stay off it for several years but always loved the smell. I’ve gone back to it with one cup a day (at 11ish) and really love it for the taste with non dairy milk. Dementia also in my family so I’m really pleased to feel it’s not all bad!
Sounds like you’ve got the perfect balance, Liz!
I do 12 cups a day, mainly for the dementia and Parkinsons prevention. I obviously have the genetic polymorphisms showing faster caffeine metabolism.
That’s a lot of coffee!
I really enjoy my cups of arabica coffee everyday. Rarely more than two. And never past mid afternoon when I switch to tea.
For me the pleasure is the taste, with milk and the caffeinated effect.
I gave up during my first pregnancy long ago when the smell made me feel sick and it took a year or so to take up coffee drinking again. Previously I’d lived on mugs of black coffee to keep my weight down. After that it was cafe au lait and now flat whites. Otherwise it’s too bitter for my tastebuds.
There don’t seem to be many people who can do coffee after mid-afternoon, but some can – it’s all genetic. The important thing is to enjoy it, as you do.
I started drinking coffee to help with liver issues I was having (mildly elevated liver enzymes and mild fatty liver). I was told coffee was good for the liver – as well as milk thistle I started taking. and eating eggs for the choline. My liver returned to normal after that.
I don’t really care much for the taste and it never energizes me as much as I hope it will! Does not seem to affect my ability to sleep either. My Dad was same, could have coffee before going to sleep!
(I am very excited to have just discovered this blog!)
Hi Nancy
We’re so pleased you’ve found the blog too! Interesting that coffee has helped with your liver issues. We all metabolise coffee at different rates, and it is partly genetic. Annabel processes coffee really quickly, whereas I’m bouncing off the walls all day after a single cup!
Susan
Thank you!
Some more info on coffee and liver, if you are interested. Since NAFLD (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease) is on the rise and most people don’t even know they have it, this could be significant.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320089.php#1
That’s really interesting, thanks so much for sharing it Nancy