Coffee – sin or happiness?

The obligatory morning coffee – many know it. Many love it. Many need it.

The uplifting effect is often the main focus, and coffee also has an enormous social significance. People arrange to meet up for coffee, and coffee is offered with cake. While grandma's usually serves filter coffee with sugar and cream, hip cafés offer a wide range: from espresso macchiato to ristretto and flat white to hand filter and cold brew. All of these types of coffee differ in different preparation methods, different roasting methods, and varying drinking temperatures. There are no limits to coffee. But is coffee consumption really healthy, which method of preparation is best and what does coffee actually do to our body?

What’s in the black gold?

Coffee grows as a tree or shrub and bears the so-called coffee cherry as fruit. Only through various roasting processes does the previously green core of the red fruit become the well-known dark coffee beanThere are many different types of coffee plants, the most well-known are Arabica and Robust physiqueAlthough they differ in terms of individual ingredients, most of the ingredients are common to all types of coffee. In total, there are over a thousand ingredients in coffee, of which we will take a closer look at the most important ones:

Caffeine

Caffeine is the best known and probably most important component of coffee. The molecule is considered a psychoactive substance with a stimulating effect. It works in our nervous system by inhibiting adenosine receptors, which means our body gets tired less quickly (more on this at Coffee as a stimulant). In addition, Caffeine the release of dopamine and cortisol.

carbohydrates

The coffee bean consists of 30% Carbohydrates, which are mostly broken down by the roasting process. When making coffee, the carbohydrates remain in the coffee grounds and do not find their way into the cup.

Fats

Is the crema on a good espresso particularly important to you? Then you should Lipids These primarily form the creamy cap. The largest proportion is made up of linoleic and palmitic acid. Linoleic acid is one of the omega-6 fatty acids and is an essential fatty acid - we must therefore consume it through food. It is an important component of the skin and contributes to Barrier function the top layer of skin (epidermis). The second important acid - palmitic acid - makes up a large part of human fat. The lipids cafestol and kahweol are also found in coffee. They inhibit the breakdown of cholesterol and thus contribute to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

Acids

You have probably noticed that coffee can sometimes have a very sour note. This is due to the many different Acidsthat are contained in coffee. Brewed coffee has a pH of 4-6, which puts it in the slightly acidic range. The most common acids in coffee are chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid. The two are chemically closely related and have similar properties. However, while chlorogenic acid is said to cause stomach upset, caffeic acid appears to protect against stomach cancer.

Coffee as a stimulant

As you have already read in the overview of caffeine, the molecule occupies the adenosine receptors and delays tiredness. What is the molecular background of this? When our body uses energy for various processes throughout the day, adenosine is released as a byproduct. This binds to the adenosine receptors and gives the body a feeling of tiredness. Caffeine is an antagonist of these receptors. That is, it has a structural similarity to adenosine and can therefore also bind to its receptors, but does not activate themThis blocks the receptors, so to speak, and the natural adenosine-mediated fatigue effect does not occur.

Besides that Caffeine increases dopamine signals and stimulates the release of cortisolDopamine is a neurotransmitter with many different functions in our brain. You may have heard of dopamine as the “happiness hormone” because the substance has important functions in the mesolimbic system – also reward system mentioned.

“I am unresponsive before my first coffee.” – a sentence that may sound familiar to some. Many people hope that the stimulating effect of coffee will give them an energy boost to start the day. But our bodies have not evolved to adapt to coffee consumption, but installed its own pick-me-up – cortisolCortisol is also known as the stress hormone and its level naturally rises in our body about 30 minutes after waking up and activates many important processes. So if you drink a caffeinated drink immediately after getting up, you can prevent the natural rise in cortisol because Caffeine also activates cortisol release. So does drinking an extra coffee increase cortisol? No, not quite. Due to the increased release of cortisol, the body gets used to it to a certain extent and in the long run you tend to need more coffee in the morning.

Can coffee be addictive?

We all know the feeling: trying to go without coffee is difficult. The tiredness in the morning or afternoon and the headache that sometimes occurs seem unbearable in the first few days of cold turkey from the hot drink. Although coffee is considered an addictive substance in some countries, scientists still disagree about its specific addictive effects. Because of the numerous ingredients and their diverse effects, the physiological addictive potential of coffee is difficult to investigate. In addition, unlike medication, studies on food are difficult to blind. In medication studies, one group receives the active ingredient and another group the placebo in tablet form. This is difficult to implement for coffee because the study participants are familiar with coffee and there is no placebo product for it. When people talk about the addictive potential of coffee, it is often equated with caffeine. Blinded studies can then be carried out using caffeine tablets.

In a study on caffeine-induced cortisol levels, scientists found that regular caffeine consumption reduces the cortisol response but does not completely eliminate it. The body builds up a tolerance with regular caffeine intake, but this is not completelySo we get used to coffee and it takes some time for the body's cortisol levels to return to normal, but from a medical point of view it is still different from a classic addiction.

health effect

Do you know whether people who drink coffee live longer or shorter and what health effects the drink has?

In fact, older studies say that people who drink coffee regularly live shorter lives. However, when making such claims, one should always look at the entire data. A closer look shows that coffee consumers often also smoke and therefore, among other things, the shorter lifespan cannot be attributed solely to coffee.

A meta-analysis from 2019 then examined coffee consumption and mortality in more depth. The results show that the lowest risk for overall mortality across all causes of death is 3,5 cups of coffee per dayThe lowest risk of cardiovascular death was at 2,5 cups per day. The lowest risk of death from cancer was at 2 cups per day. Even with higher coffee consumption, the mortality risk did not increase. The study also included age, obesity, smoking habits and caffeine content. The positive effect of coffee cannot be attributed to caffeine alone, as decaffeinated coffee also showed positive effects.

As you probably know, coffee increases your heart rate and blood pressure. However, this is an effect that can only be observed while the caffeine is working. However, you should be careful if you have high blood pressure. If you rarely consume caffeinated drinks, coffee will have a faster effect on your blood pressure. And as always, “the dose makes the poison” – When consumed in moderation, coffee has no harmful effect on blood pressure. However, you shouldn't overdo it.

Not all coffee is the same

Coffee is such a diverse drink that its physiological and health effects cannot be generalized so easily. Since many substances are only released through roasting, this is an important step that can have a major influence on taste and effect. In addition, the methods of preparation are becoming increasingly diverse. The duration, temperature and pressure of the brewing process have different effects on the dissolution of the substances from the ground beans. In general, however, the solubility of most substances in coffee is higher. The higher the temperature, the more quickly the harmful fats are dissolved from the coffee. Filter coffee has a special position here, provided that paper filters are used and not waste-reducing metal filters. The fine filter paper retains the lipids and thus the healthier and usually less acidic coffee is produced.

While we attach great importance to coffee culture, some countries in the world have centuries-old tea traditions. This hot drink is also said to have outstanding health benefitsBut what is actually healthier and which types of tea are particularly recommended? We will address this topic next time. Let’s see if the alternative pick-me-up “green Tea“ can also do so much.