Coffee benefits and facts

Roasted (ARABICA) coffee bean composition

• Carbohydrates 38%
• Lipids            17%
• Melanoids  33%
• Minerals        4.5%
• Acids and phenols 5.1%
• Caffeine           1.3%
• Trigonelline    1.0%

Charges against coffee

• Coffee is a drug
• It deprives from sleep and causes anxiety
• It causes cardiovascular diseases
• It causes gastritis
• It damages the liver
• It can produce cancer
• It can produce intestinal colitis
• It must be avoided during pregnancy

These effects are partly attributed to caffeine.

• Caffeinated drink consumption is known to improve reflexes and concentration.
• But caffeine is not a drug, in fact:
  • It does not generate dependency
  • It is not necessary to drink more coffee to have an effect.

• It stimulates the nerves
• It is a cardiovascular stimulant
• It has a positive effect on the kidneys
• It lengthens one's attention span
• It is good for the mood
• It produces peripheral vasoconstriction
• It is a diuretic

Coffee and gastritis

Coffee stimulates the production of saliva and the secretion of gastric acids and bile produced by the liver; it also stimulates the bowels. As a result, it aids digestion.

People with gastric problems (esophagus gastric reflux, gastritis, ulcer), because of their excessive acid secretion, will have to limit (or even avoid in the most severe cases) coffee consumption (Boekema, 1999).

Coffee and hepatic pathologies

There is no reason to limit coffee consumption in case of hepatic pathologies.

In many of these viral hepatitis, cirrhosis and steatosis diseases, there is strong oxidative stress and because coffee is rich in antioxidants, it should be recommended.

Some of its components (N-methyl-pyridine chlorogenic acid) have a specific effect on the detoxifying action of the liver.

Coffee and intestinal colitis

• Decaffeinated drinks are better for those suffering from colitis (Magee 2005)
• Antioxidant activity of feces (Garsetti 2000).
• Fiber effect of melanoids.

It is advisable to reduce or eliminate coffee consumption for the following types of risks:

• Hyper tense patients and those suffering from cardiac arrhythmias.
• Patients suffering from gastritis, esophagitis and intestinal colitis.
• Pregnant women to whom moderate consumption of coffee is recommended.

Coffee: source of antioxidant and (perhaps) prebiotic food fiber

• Drinking coffee can substantially increase the antioxidant activity of feces.
• This means that many of its active compounds are not absorbed and end up at the microflora of the large intestine.
• It is thought that coffee melanoids are capable of modifying the microflora composition by acting as prebiotics.

Niacin

• Niacin is not present in raw coffee.
• It is a by-product of trigonelline at 200 °C .
• 10mg of niacin are produced from 100g of little roasted coffee, but up to 40mg are produced from 100g of Italian roasting.
• Coffee drinkers thus get a substantial amount of the daily recommended intake of vitamin B3.

Coffee and type 2 diabetes

• Type 2 Diabetes is a diffuse pathology with increasing incidence in the whole world, due to enormous social costs.
• Epidemiologist data indicate that drinking coffee can reduce the risk of contracting this pathology by 50% (Lancet, 2002).

Five times a day… just like fruits and vegetables!

Not only does drinking 4 to 5 cups of coffee per day have no effect on a healthy subject, but it can actually prevent a person from contracting certain pathologies.