There's a new swirl of debate brewing about the health effects of coffee, this time the decaffeinated variety. One of the first substantial studies to test it like a drug instead of just asking people how much of it they consumed found higher blood levels of the bad cholesterol-precursor fats in those drinking decaf vs. regular coffee or none at all.
"It was one of the few coffee studies not funded by industry — federal taxpayers picked up the more than $1 million tab. (If you think that's a lot of money, consider that more than half of Americans drink three cups or more a day).
Participants were given Mr. Coffee machines, premeasured bags of Maxwell House, and periodic blood tests so scientists could tell just how much caffeine and coffee they had consumed over eight weeks.
The 187 volunteers were put into three groups: no coffee, 3 to 6 cups a day of regular, or 3 to 6 cups of decaf. Coffee was consumed black, no cream or sugar. Diet surveys were taken for a week at the beginning and the end so researchers could evaluate whether changes in eating habits might have affected results.
The result: decaf drinkers had modestly higher levels — 8 to 18 percent — of fatty acids and precursors of LDL or bad cholesterol than the others.
Nobody knows why, but Superko has some guesses. Fats give coffee flavor, and a more flavorful species of beans, robusta, is commonly used for decaf to make up for the flavonoids and other ingredients that are lost during the decaffeination process. Regular coffee uses a different bean, arabica.
Frankly, I'm skeptical of the study. The study, funded by you and me to the tune of $1 million dollars plus - doesn't take into consideration the doughnuts we dunk into our coffee - caffeinated or not. (oh sure they tested the study group, but I'd behave if I was being tested too) Surely that's worse on the cholesterol levels than the coffee?
Why spend money researching coffee (and our money at that) when we could be looking at other more important issues. Leave the humble coffee bean alone. We coffee drinkers don't need data to support what we already know. It is the nectar of the gods and we want ours NOW!
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