Benefits of Coffee – Fact or Fiction

Coffee Contains Acrylamide

Acrylamide comes into coffee through the roasting process.  It also comes into all roasted, toasted, baked and fried foods, not just coffee.  Recent studies have linked Acrylamide to an increased risk of both cancer and heart disease.   Fried foods, like french fries and potato chips have the highest acrylamide content.  Interestingly, grain based coffee substitutes are reported to have a far higher Acrylamide content than roasted coffee beans.  The coffee industry has opposed efforts to include label warnings regarding Acrylamide, arguing that the amounts found in coffee are within the safe ranges provided by the EPA.  However, nutrition advocates have argued in favor of label warnings.

Where do I land in this controversy?  First, Acrylamide is naturally occurring from a roasting process, not a food additive.  The amount in coffee happens to be lower than that in fried foods, and even cocoa.  You can avoid Acrylamides by avoiding fried foods, and by eating more raw or steamed foods.  You can counteract the negative effects by eating vegetables and fruits that are high in antioxidants, as well as cruciferous vegetables and leafy greens (one of the benefits of beet greens, that we wrote about before).  If you want to avoid Acrylamides, try reducing fried foods from your diet.  They tend to have a far higher concentration, and more fat borne calories as well.

You can read more about Acrylamides in WHFoods, and their conclusion also is that coffee is not a high-risk for acrylamide:

Your highest-risk foods for acrylamide exposure fall into three basic categories: (1) fried, processed foods like potato chips and french fries; (2) baked snack foods containing wheat and sugar, including cookies and crackers; and (3) processed foods involving toasted grains, including toasted wheat cereals, and roasted grain-based coffee substitutes. Roasted cocoa beans (and the chocolate made from them), some dehydrated soup mixes, and some canned black pitted olives can also fall into this higher-risk category in terms of acrylamide exposure.

Inconclusive Research on the Health Benefits of Coffee

There is a lot of marketing hype around the health benefits of coffee. Naturally the coffee industry wishes to tout these potential benefits. However, there also is some controversy around that. The reason is that the research involved has not been all that scientifically rigorous, leading to some criticisms of it. So, you can take your cup of coffee with a “grain of salt”!

Are the Health Benefits of Drinking Coffee Fact or Fiction?

Back to our original question, in one word, I would say the benefits of coffee are …. drum roll …. partly fact, partly fiction.  The bottom line is, go ahead and enjoy your coffee in moderation, but don’t expect it to make you live longer.

Like other foods, there are some nutritional and health benefits of coffee, and undoubtedly its flavonoid antioxidants have health benefits.  However, you can get the same benefits from other foods, which also lack some of the disadvantages of coffee and especially sweetened coffee drinks.  On the other hand, as far as caffeine containing drinks go, black coffee is among the best, being low in calories, and high in some nutrients such as potassium and riboflavin, in addition to its antioxidants.  So, for a tasty drink, or a good caffeine drink, black coffee is a great choice.