Coffee Mania: The Antioxidant Benefits of Coffee
Guilty pleasure, anyone?
For
years, caffeine in coffee has been known to have an addictive effect
not unlike that which heroin addicts experience. And to think that
that is only one of the many reasons why people say coffee is bad
for your health.
However, with new studies cropping up concerning the antioxidant
benefits of coffee, it seems that this popular beverage has finally
joined the ranks of red wine and chocolate as a guilty pleasure that
may actually be good for you.
Coffee is good for you.
Say
what?
Right. This is certainly a jolt-maker, whether you are a java
drinker or a latte-monger. Apparently, not only is coffee a great
way to get that “fix” in the morning, but a cup or two can actually
be healthy.
Studies Show: Drink Your Antioxidants
Whenever someone mentions antioxidants, the first thing that comes
to mind are huge capsules mega-loaded with vitamins like C, E, and
A. In fact, antioxidants can be found in common everyday beverages
we take in without even knowing they’re rich antioxidant sources.
The
three common beverages the average American consumes on a daily
basis include tea, cocoa, and coffee, and there’s every reason to
assume, with what the English termed as the “coffee phenomenon” in
the U.S., that coffee is the most widely consumed of the three.
Research has shown that oxidation of cholesterol-rich low-density
lipoproteins (LDLs) – the so-called lipoproteins –
contributes to their transformation into fatty plaque. This would
then lead to the development of artery clogging plaque, resulting to
many degenerative diseases, not least of which is heart disease and
high blood pressure.
In
order to test the potential benefits of dietary antioxidants,
scientists measured their ability to protect LDLs from oxidation.
Using this method, previous studies showed that dark chocolate
triggers a number of beneficial changes that would appear to slow
the ravages of atherosclerosis. In another host of studies,
scientists demonstrated that tea contains potent antioxidant
flavonoids and that the quantity regularly consumed in tea tends to
correlate with hearth health.
So
where does coffee place in all this?
oal was to
find out how coffee and tea stacked up against conventional
antioxidant sources.
After
mixing the drinks, the scientists collected blood from healthy
volunteers and filtered out the plasma containing LDL particles. In
each run, a sample of these LDLs was incubated with a small quantity
of beverage. Afterwards, a known antioxidant was added to the mix.
Now
comes the comparison.
Compared to LDLs treated with the antioxidant alone, those mixed
with a beverage experienced less oxidation. The protection afforded
by each beverage was indicated by the time it took the LDLs to
oxidize – the longer the lag time, the better the protection.
In
this experimental setup, coffee protected LDLs for 5.0 to 16.0
hours. By contrast, cocoa protected the lipoproteins for 3.5 to 7.5
hours, green tea for 3.0 to 5.5 hours, black tea for 1.0 to 4.5
hours, and herbal tea for 6 minutes to perhaps an hour.
The
range of times for each beverage reflects the varying strengths of
the batches prepared. Because there is considerable variation
between countries in the way each typically prepares a particular
drink, these scientists formulated each beverage in various
strengths – and observed a marked dose-dependence in their effects.
The
more concentrated the brew or cocoa, the better protection it
afforded.
Milk Added?
Granted that these beverages do have antioxidant effects on LDL,
what happens if you add milk?
Richelle’s group had the same concern. They surmised that it was
possible that milk might bind to the antioxidant compounds in one or
more of these beverages. So in order to find out whether or not the
addition of dairy would compromise a drink’s antioxidant potency,
they conducted a separate experiment.
The
scientists mixed in enough milk to equal 10 percent of the volume
for the brews and a full 66 percent of the volume for cocoa. To
their surprise, they found no change in any of the drinks’ LDL
protection.
The
same thing applies with decaf. Richelle’s group found that even
caffeine-free coffee offered the same LDL protection.
Coffee
vs. Conventional Antioxidant Sources
In a
new study on U.S. diet conducted by researchers at the University of
Scranton in Pennsylvania, coffee has been found to be rich not only
in antioxidants but in hundreds of pain-relieving and anti-bacterial
compounds as well.
Antioxidant wise, coffee has beaten out black tea, bananas, dry
beans, and corn – all common sources of antioxidants – to shoot
right up to the top as the number one antioxidant source.
“Americans get more of their antioxidants from coffee than any other
dietary source. Nothing else comes close,” says study leader Joe
Vinson, Ph.D.
Although fruits and vegetables are generally promoted as good
sources of antioxidants, the new finding is surprising because it
represents the first time that coffee has been shown to be the
primary source from which most Americans get their antioxidants.
Both caffeinated and decaf versions appear to provide the same
levels of antioxidants.
Based
on comparisons of the concentration of antioxidants in coffee and
the relative amounts we consume of coffee and the more
conventionally acknowledged antioxidant sources – fruits and
vegetables – the study found that coffee contributes more to our
antioxidant intake than any other food.
Which Types of Coffee?
So
coffee is rich in antioxidants. But there are several different
types of coffee that man drinks. Which one contains the highest
antioxidant level?
The
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Pavia in
Pavia, Italy studied the antioxidants present in the green and dark
roasted coffees Coffee Arabica and Coffee robusta. Not surprisingly,
they found that all of the studied coffees showed a strong presence
of them and also anti-radical activity.
However, their findings showed that there was no marked difference
between the green and dark roasted coffee. This indicated that the
roasting process did not damage the natural antioxidant presence in
the coffee beans.
In
another study, the School of Food Bio Sciences at the University of
Reading, Whiteknights in Reading, United Kingdom looked at the
effects of roasting coffee, with the goal of finding out the
negative effects on antioxidant presence.
The
scientists studied the Colombian Arabica coffee that was roasted to
light, medium, and dark roast. They found that medium roasted coffee
had the maximum detoxification activity. This is substantially
different from the widely accepted assumption that dark roasted
coffee had more antioxidant benefits.
It
appears, according to this study, that medium roasted coffee has a
more powerful antioxidant effect than the dark roasted one.
Antioxidant Activity of Coffee
Antioxidants are specialized chemicals that neutralize harmful
molecules, called free radicals, found in the body. The University
of Scranton chemistry professor, Joe Vinson, explained that when too
many free radicals build up in the body, they start to damage cells.
This damage will eventually lead to the development of cancer and
heart disease.
Numerous studies in recent years have touted the benefits of eating
foods high in antioxidants to ward off such diseases. And coffee is
only one rich source of antioxidants.
“Antioxidants are compounds already in your body, but you need more
than what the body produces,” Vinson said.
In
his study which aimed to measure the antioxidant capacity of coffee,
Vinson’s team analyzed the amount of antioxidants in a variety of
foods and compared those figures to how much of each food type, on
average, people in the U.S. consume.
The
scientists found that the average person guzzles down more than a
thousand milligrams of antioxidants a day from coffee. This rate far
surpasses the next runner-up, black tea, which accounts for a few
hundred milligram a day on average.
The
beverage also easily outranked such popular antioxidant sources as
tea, milk, chocolate, and cranberries. Of all the foods and
beverages studied, dates actually have the most antioxidants of all
based solely on serving size. But since dates are not consumed at
anywhere near the level of coffee, the blue ribbon goes to the
favorite pick-me-up as the number one source of antioxidants.
The
antioxidants in coffee are known as polyphenols. Sometimes they are
bound to a sugar molecule, which covers up the antioxidant group,
Vinson said.
The
first step in measuring them was to break that sugar link. Vinson
noted that chemicals in the stomach do the same thing, freeing
polyphenols.
“We
think that antioxidants can be good for you in a number of ways,”
Vinson said, further adding that the effects may even include
affecting enzymes and genes, although more research is needed to
prove that.
Besides keeping you alert and awake, coffee has also been linked to
an increasing number of potential health benefits, including
protection against liver and colon cancer, type 2 diabetes, and
Parkinson’s disease, according to some recently published studies.
But while the findings would seem to encourage people to go out and
drink more coffee, Vinson emphasizes moderation.
“If I
say more coffee is better, then I would have to tell you to spread
it out to keep the levels of antioxidants up,” Vinson said. “We
always talk about moderation in anything.”
How Much is Enough?
“One
to two cups a day appear to be beneficial,” Vinson says about
coffee.
If
you don’t like coffee, consider drinking black tea, which is the
second most consumed antioxidant source in the U.S. diet.
Dr.
Keith I. Block of the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Care and
Optimal Health in Evanston, Illinois is in agreement. He concedes
that while coffee might be the number one source of antioxidant in
the American diet, “that is not license to make it a mainstay of
your health regimen.”
Block
further noted that “Vinson’s (Dr. Joe Vinson, the lead scientist who
conducted the University of Scranton study) results are perhaps more
a reflection on the inadequacy of our fruit and vegetable intake
than on the health benefits of coffee, which has some significant
health concerns for many people.”
Vinson says, “There are about 4,000 known (antioxidant) compounds
that are in plants. Their purpose (for the plant) is to reduce free
radicals from UV light (exposure). Coffee is a rather unique plant
in that it doesn’t have a lot of different chemicals in it.”
Other
study authors and experts warn that people get the most disease
protection when they consume a wide variety of antioxidants. Since
coffee carries only a few specific types, it is not recommended that
you make the bean your only antioxidant source.
Director of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory at Tufts
University’s Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on
Aging in Boston, Massachusetts, Jeffery B. Blumberg also cautions
that Vinson’s study data do not account for how well chemicals in
coffee are absorbed in the body.
“The
antioxidants in coffee are primarily of a specific type…,” he said.
“We know relatively little about its activity in humans and its
biological role.”
“To
suggest its role is similar to other essential antioxidants is
misleading,” he added.
Both
Vinson and Blumberg recommend that eating more foods that contain a
host of vital minerals and nutrients in addition to a high
concentration of antioxidants – such as vegetables, fruits, nuts,
and whole grains is better than relying solely on coffee.
Coffee and Other Diseases
In
February, a team of Japanese researchers reported in the Journal
of the National Cancer Institute that people who drank coffee
daily, or nearly every day, had half the liver cancer risk of those
who never drank it. The protective effect occurred in people who
drank one to two cups a day and increased at three to four cups.
Last
year, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health also found
that drinking coffee cut the risk of developing the most common form
of diabetes.
Men who drank more than six 8-ounce cups of
caffeinated coffee per day lowered their risk of type 2 diabetes by
about half, and women reduced their risk by nearly 30 percent. All
that when compared with people who did not drink coffee, according
to the study in the Annals of Internal
Medicine.
Still, the rule is moderation.
Bonnie Liebman, nutrition director of the Center for Science in the
Public Interest said that while many people have faith that
antioxidants will reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease and more,
the evidence has not always panned out.
Most
experts are looking beyond antioxidants. More specifically, they are
looking at the combination of vitamins, minerals, and other
nutrition in specific foods.
Vinson had the same idea.
“Unfortunately, consumers are still not eating enough fruits and
vegetables, which are better for you from an overall nutritional
point of view due to their higher content of vitamins, minerals, and
fibers,” Vinson said.
Coffee should not be a substitute for healthier foods such as fruits
and vegetables that offer many more nutrients than coffee. In
addition, researchers say that high levels of antioxidants in foods
don’t necessarily match the levels found in the body. In fact, many
agree that more needs to be understood about how these antioxidants
are absorbed and used by the body.
But
in the meantime, if you want the full effects of varied antioxidant
sources, don’t forget to eat your greens and the proverbial apple.
After
coffee, here are the next top 10 sources of antioxidants in the
American diet, according to Vinson’s study:
