The identity of cafestol in coffee that raises cholesterol levels

The identity of cafestol in coffee that raises cholesterol levels

Dec 18, 2024Ehotyshamull Joy

 

What's the difference between a machine-brewed Americano and a hand-drip Americano? When comparing the oil content of the two coffees, it was found that the machine-brewed Americano contained much more oil. This is the result of placing oil paper on top of the two coffees.


The true identity of this coffee oil is 'cafestol*'. Coffee contains more than 500 chemicals, including the oil that floats in espresso and the coffee foam crema that is called cafestol.

 

Benefits of cafestol

 

Cafe stol has several actions in the body. This is also thanks to the anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects of coffee. In fact, a 2013 study by Dr. Jaeho Park's team at the Korea Food Research Institute found that cafestol inhibits the formation of abnormal new blood vessels caused by diabetic retinopathy, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and endometriosis.

 

Cons of cafestol 1: Elevated cholesterol and liver enzyme levels

 

But there's more to cafestol than all its benefits. It also has the downside of increasing cholesterol and liver enzyme levels. In 2007, a team of researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in the United States found that cafestol in coffee increased the concentration of low-density lipoprotein (LDL). In a study conducted by the Netherlands Institute of Health Sciences in which adult men and women were given five cups of coffee a day for four weeks, cholesterol levels increased by 8% in men and 10% in women.

 

Cafe stol is extracted by pouring hot water into ground coffee beans. The same goes for Turkish coffee, which is made by boiling water several times with finely ground coffee, French pressed coffee, which uses a metal filter to extract espresso, and espresso machine coffee, which is used in coffee shops. According to a study by the Wageningen University of Agriculture in the Netherlands, a cup of coffee contains 4 mg of cafestol, which can raise cholesterol levels by about 1%.

 

Even a zero-calorie Americano is not filtered through a paper filter, and cholesterol cannot be guaranteed.

 

Disadvantages of cafestol 2: Causes glaucoma

 

You can also think about the effects of cafestol on glaucoma. A team of researchers from Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston analyzed the intake of caffeinated beverages and medical records in nearly 120,000 men and women over the age of 40 and found that drinking three or more cups of coffee daily was associated with a higher risk of glaucoma.
 
Ironically, other caffeinated beverages, sparkling water, tea, and chocolate were not associated with glaucoma. Of the caffeinated foods, only coffee increased the incidence of glaucoma. In particular, people in Sweden, Finland, and Scandinavia, countries that mainly drink strong unfiltered coffee, also had higher rates of glaucoma.
 
Glaucoma is actually heavily influenced by cholesterol. A team of professors from the Department of Family Medicine at Korea University School of Medicine analyzed the intraocular pressure, waist circumference, body mass index, blood pressure, and total cholesterol levels of 4,875 men in their 20s and older, and found that the higher the intraocular pressure, the higher the cholesterol level. This is also why cholesterol-lowering drugs are used to treat glaucoma.

In other words, if coffee is the only caffeinated food that causes glaucoma, you may also suspect the effect of cafestol on cholesterol levels.
Coffee with cafestol removed

Hand-drip coffee is filtered through a paper filter, and cold coffee is filtered through a ceramic filter. In particular, the paper filter used for hand drips is known to filter out about 95% of coffee fat components such as cafestol.

 

If you have cardiovascular disease or are on a diet, you may want to drink hand-drip coffee. In addition, the egg coffee that we like to eat at home is also removed from the cafestol during the freeze-drying process.


If you can't afford to enjoy drip coffee, you can strain it through a paper filter.

 



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