Is coffee healthy?

Coffee is a very interesting beverage. It might even be appropriate to label it as highly controversial, at least in relation to human health, but that depends on the perspective of the person assessing its influence. Common logic would not assume that this liquid would become, alongside tea, the most sold beverage worldwide. However, the fact is that hundreds of millions of people cannot imagine starting their day without a cup of coffee. Hundreds of millions of people do not even want to admit that without several servings of coffee during the day, they are unable to function properly. The use of the simple argument that the brain does not work without caffeine, and if the brain doesn't work, neither does the body, is very common.

Because coffee is a source of a strong stimulant (caffeine) and a significant bouquet as well, it clearly becomes a source of addiction to these very strong factors. And where there are addicts, there will always be savvy traders who are happy to help these “afflicted” people in developing this weakness out of goodwill. Part of their business practices then includes trying to prove that the consumption of this food is beneficial to health. And that is already a word for debate…

Whether coffee is healthy or not is actually a concern for only a part of its consumers, and even then, the smaller proportion. The larger group is mainly interested in its taste and stimulating effects. Even so, it is worth reflecting on the health impact of drinking coffee. When evaluating the health benefits of foods, it is common practice to dissect the given food into individual components, study their positive and negative effects on our health, and only then lean towards one side of the scale or the other. However, there is a small snag here in the form of completely different results of individual studies conducted by different institutions, and their subsequent interpretations. One study confirms the increased excretion of minerals after coffee consumption [1] as a consequence of its diuretic effects [2] with the risk of promoting the onset and development of osteoporosis, while another claims that this effect is absolutely negligible and that, in combination with milk consumption and vitamin D intake control, there is nothing to worry about. [3]
Another study points to the positive effects of caffeine as a stimulant, while another counters with a warning that this alkaloid disrupts the balance of the autonomic nervous system, becoming a source of sympathetic [4] or parasympathetic [5] stress.

A coffee lover who is not familiar with the issue must be clearly confused. How is it possible that one expert or group of specialists claims that coffee is black evil, which dehydrates the organism, acidifies it, irritates the nervous system, and demineralizes bones, while another group of enthusiasts tries to convince us that coffee consumption is a strong social and taste experience that elevates both body and spirit?
To find one's “personal truth,” let's first evaluate the bare facts. Coffee is a fruit, but unlike regular fruits, we do not consume it. The world's attention is focused on the seeds of the coffee plant. These need to be roasted first (assuming we do not choose the green coffee version), then correctly ground, and finally choose one of the many possible methods of beverage preparation. Each of these steps in the processing process is crucial for the final effect, not only in terms of taste but also from a health perspective.

How to understand this?

Let's first look at the composition of each seed. It is quite simple and consists of two components:

1. Cellulose.
   The lay public, which does not favor foreign technical terms, is content with the term “wood.” Cellulose represents the predominant portion of the total volume of a bean. In all commonly used varieties of coffee, the structure of this “wood” is practically the same, differing in details such as hardness and caffeine content. From a semantic perspective, these differences are truly minimal.
    
2. A mixture of aromatic substances.
   There are many, with unnecessarily complicated names for the average person, so let us not dwell on those. A more important point is that we divide them into soluble and insoluble ones. For the soluble ones, we further distinguish whether they dissolve in water or in fats. Their spectrum and amount vary significantly depending on the coffee plant variety. It is also true that the final taste of coffee is primarily determined by the content of the insoluble components.

If we want to enjoy fragrant and tastefully attractive coffee that boosts our senses at least to the extent of looking at this world with a more cheerful gaze, we must take a certain amount of beans and roast them. And the roasting method, alongside the choice of coffee plant variety and the conditions under which the plant was grown (together with the degree of ripeness at harvest), is the most important aspect affecting the taste of the final product. That is, the temperature used, total time, and mixing during roasting. If anything is neglected or wrongly estimated, the foodie's tongue cannot expect something that gastro-fanatics call a “flavor orgasm.” Once we start roasting the beans, aromatic substances caramelize at higher temperatures within the individual cells of the “wood,” “exploding” the covers of these cells. When we take a roasted bean in hand, we feel it is brittle and we can easily crush it, which is not so easily achieved with an unroasted one. Moreover, we feel the oiliness on our fingers as proof of the mentioned caramelization of oily substances after this thermal treatment of the beans. The true purpose of the roasting and thus caramelization process is the fact that they are responsible for the final taste of the coffee.

What then should we do with this information?

Let us once again summarize the key facts:
We know that coffee beans contain “wood” and oil. Water is, of course, also part of the coffee preparation process. It is therefore necessary to ensure that water and oil (containing caramelized aromatic compounds responsible for the final taste of coffee) mix. Physics at the elementary school level tells us, however, that water and oil do not mix under normal conditions. These two disparate substances can only be put together when we use some chemical (specifically an emulsifier, which can also be of natural origin, so the term “chemical” does not have to be a dirty word in this case) or we increase the temperature and pressure of the environment. To make truly quality coffee, we need to make an emulsion, that is, a mixture of water and oil. The more “perfect” this emulsion is, the better we will be able to enjoy the presence of all substances. So the real trick to making divine coffee lies in our ability to transfer as many caramelized substances from the beans into the hot water as possible.
And here, beware.
There are several methods of making coffee (filtering, vacuum pot, moka, French press, Turkish coffee, Aeropress, espresso…).
Which one is better?
That's the wrong question because when seeking an answer to whether coffee is healthy, one should ask: “Which one is the healthiest?” Each of these methods uses different processes. The “ideal“ method is one that ensures the intake of as much emulsified aromatic compounds into the water as possible while also limiting the content of caffeine and carcinogenic (= cancer-causing) substances that are bound to cellulose after roasting. A person responsibly caring for their health and simultaneously seeking social-taste experiences will choose a method that fulfills this. It wasn't that long ago that the machines that allowed such a miracle to first appeared. Between the forties and sixties of the last century, espresso machines were developed that, when used correctly, give us the desired result – strong aroma, amazing taste, minimal caffeine, and even fewer harmful substances. Therefore, espresso has to be mastered. The originally discovered and still unsurpassed technology requires the use of 7 grams of properly ground coffee pressed with a pressure of 20 kilograms and processed by the device into a volume of 20-30 ml within 20-30 seconds. To make it not so simple, it's necessary to use water at a temperature of 90°C and a pressure of 9 bars. Producing such coffee in today's conditions is not problematic. Devices intended for this purpose are very well available not only in public gastronomy but also for home use.

But even this approach to preparation does not answer the question of whether coffee is healthy. The emotions of a coffee lover clearly say that the beverage must be healthy if they feel better after its consumption than before, which has greater explanatory value than the voice of rationality. Furthermore, the term “healthy food” is highly relative in its meaning. Coffee contains dozens of different compounds, about which we know how they affect metabolic processes. Some increase blood pressure [6], others have antioxidant effects [7] or support mental activity [8], while others affect fat metabolism [9].
Interestingly, for instance, is the finding that the process of filtering coffee can reduce the content of compounds increasing the oxidation of blood lipids by as much as thirtyfold. It thus appears that the consumption of filtered coffee has a significant influence on the development of cardiovascular diseases [9], which are the most common cause of death.

So, is drinking coffee healthy?

Since the content of active substances changes with the type of coffee and the method of preparation, the decision must be approached individually. Coffee contains substances that are beneficial to health in many ways, as well as those that push metabolism's behavior in not entirely suitable directions. However, what most coffee consumers are primarily interested in is the fact that coffee is delicious. The reason for this conviction is the fact that they managed to convince their brains that the bitter taste is not dangerous for their species.
An undeniable advantage in many situations is the stimulating effect of coffee, even though it is very difficult to find the boundary where it becomes stressful.
Coffee earns its producers and sellers a lot of money. And that's good, because nurturing a coffee culture is just as exciting and socially enriching as cherishing a wine culture and other “drug-like” foods.
Coffee connects people worldwide. The strength of taste and caffeine are a very good foundation that creates conditions for long chats with friends. Coffee contains plenty of substances beneficial to health, which leads to conclusions that the food as a whole has a positive impact on human health (it should be added that practically every food boasts such characteristics). It is essential, however, to look at foods as a whole and attempt to evaluate which of the available characteristics have a greater or lesser impact on health, applying this to the individual as well. This is so complex and ambiguous that, at this point, the vast majority of people lose interest in finding the truth and focus their attention in another (= simpler) direction. Many take comfort in one of the definitions of health, which says that it is the organism's ability to adapt to the situation. And the global consumption of coffee clearly shows that a significant part of the world is happy to adapt to its consumption.
For many, an interesting resolution may be the discovery by Australian scientists who found that our own approach to coffee consumption is genetically driven. If the body says (= we have the feeling) that we should not drink a given cup of coffee, it has its reason, which is aligned with our health. [10]