For many, who are addicted to coffee and particularly espresso, there is something dark, indulgent and seductive about coffee and caffeine.
Recent articles in the press have announced that a seemingly modest gourmet coffee habit of one cappuccino each and every day of your commute, could cost more than £700 a year (or $1,116.36 U.S. dollars) and pile on, wait for it, a colossal 60,000 calories!!
However, the calories are in the milk! Often full fat is used, so a skinny option is always an advisable optional extra in your latte or cappuccino …
The coffee part of your indulgence is, if recent research is anything to go by, good for you!
Many research studies over the past 10 or so years have indicated that consumption of 3 to 5 cups of coffee a day can:
1. Reduce the incidence of certain cancers such as prostrate and oral cancer
2. Reduce cholesterol levels
3. Reduce the likelihood of dying from cardiovascular disease
4. Prevent plaque and therefore tooth decay
5. Protect against gout
6. Reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure
7. Positively aid digestion, especially as moderate coffee consumption is not diuretic and will assist with constipation
8. Reduce the incidence of cirrhosis of the liver
9. May reduce the onset of type 2 diabetes
10. May aid pain management and actively boosts the properties of many pain killers – hence why many over the counter preparations now contain caffeine
11. Increase cognitive performance and particularly short term recall ability
12. Reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease
13. Reduce the risk of dementia
14. Result in a lower incidence of gallstones and gallbladders diseases
15. Reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s
WOW!
Seems we should be bathing in espresso … which, when you hear that alternative medicine now recommends coffee enemas, is perhaps not such a stupid suggestion as it sounds!!
Similarly, a big trend in Continental Europe, which we here at Aromo Coffee believe is set to take the UK market by storm, is stomach friendly, or mild coffees.
These are coffees where the green, unroasted bean is washed with saturated steam under humid pressure, for an hour or so.
The original system was patented in 1933 and produces a coffee which is more easily digestible for those with sensitive stomachs … because the steaming removes irritants which may cause, or exacerbate stomach ache, heart burn and acid indigestion.
Various reports – such as Albanese 1964 and Rahn 1979 – have concluded that there is a genuine change in the chemistry of steamed coffee with reductions in:
Tannin (24%)
Chlorogenic Acid (3%)
Mercaptomethane (11%)
So coffee should be a moderate part of a healthy diet and as Kenneth Williams would have said in those wonderful British 1970’s cream cake adverts … a cappuccino is ‘naughty but nice’ especially after a good workout … Go on treat yourself!
About the author: This article was written by Guru (Andy Grelak) who writes for aromocoffee.co.uk, the UK’s leading online retailer of 44mm E.S.E espresso coffee pods.
