Healthy Coffee & The 5 Hidden Dangers Lurking in Your Cup
Get educated and start making better, healthy coffee purchasing decisions!
1. Non-Organic
Most coffee you can buy in the grocery store or coffee shop is NOT organic. What this means is most coffee you brew at home is grown using pesticides. This might not seem so bad, except coffee is naturally one of the most absorbent crops on earth. So when non-organic farms use pesticides like Endosulfan and Carbofuran, the pesticides end up in your cup of coffee. These pesticides are so harmful that the United Nations and US Environmental Protection Agency have banned them, but many third world countries (where the coffee actually grows) still sell these pesticides over the counter. These harmful aspects are commonly known to cause nerve and neurological damage.
The Solution: Purchase certified organic, healthy coffee beans. The USDA has strict standards that provide the security you need to be confident in your coffee purchasing.
2. Sun-Grown Coffee Produces Acidity
So maybe you do buy Organic Coffee, but you still get heartburn and acid reflux. The reason acidity. When coffee grows in the sun it grows very fast. As a result it produces a more acidic crop. Coffee in its natural habitat — the shade — grows more slowly and as a result, contains less acidity. This simple concept has been ignored by large agribusiness corporations which want the fastest yielding crops, and who dont care about your heartburn or acid reflux.
The Solution: Shade-grown, healthy coffees reduce the acidity in the bean and provide and overall smoothness that not only makes the bean more enjoyable, but also reduces the effects of the acidity on your body.
3. Negative Effects of too Much Caffeine
Maybe you dont have acid reflux at night you just cant fall asleep. Too much caffeine might be the problem. Caffeine is the stimulant of choice for most of us. Used in excess, however, this substance can cause health problems. The World Health Organization describes the symptoms of caffeine abuse this way, . . . Restlessness, insomnia, flushed face, muscle twitching, tachycardia, gastrointestinal disturbances including abdominal pain, pressured or rambling thought and speech, and sometimes exacerbation of pre-existing anxiety or panic states, depression or schizophrenia. But, you still want to drink more coffee and be free from these side effects. Well, dont drink inferior coffee. Most coffee sold for home-brewing is blended from Arabica and Robusta coffee beans. When big coffee companies mix coffee beans you are unable to determine how much caffeine you are truly ingesting.
The Solution: More caffeine does not directly equate to more energy. Don’t give up your daily ritual to reduce your caffeine intake. Instead, purchase top quality, healthy coffee beans as they generally contain far less caffeine content than lower-quality counterparts.
4. Chemically Processed Decaf
So you dont have heartburn and you fall right to sleep like a baby. Maybe thats because you drink decaf. Do you know how coffee companies make decaf? Many use chemical decaffeination. One of the ways of doing this is by washing the beans in Methylene Chloride. Sounds yummy doesnt it? According to a study conducted by the World Health Organization on human volunteers, Methylene Chloride produced, Effects on the nervous system, such as dizziness, weakness, blurred vision, muscular incoordination, drowsiness, sleep disturbances, mental confusion, and paralysis. Neurotic and depressive symptoms are also described. Further, gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, etc.) have been observed, as well as jaundice. Currently it is not required for coffee roasting companies to tell their customers how the decaffeination process is achieved. That is why it’s important to only buy decaf coffee that is water processed.
The Solution: Drink only Swiss Water Processed decaf. The Swiss Water Process removes 99.7% of the caffeine from your coffee (an industry high) – naturally without the use of chemicals. Now that’s low caffeine, healthy coffee!
5. Carcinogens in Burnt Coffee
While pesticides and other chemicals used in processing coffee are unappealing, many coffee companies actually burn their beans during roasting. Doing this helps them to maintain a distinct and consistent taste while masking the flavor of inferior beans. Burning coffee, however, produces cancer-causing carcinogens like Acrylamide. The concentration of this carcinogen in drinking water has been regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency at 0.5 parts per billion. Yet, according to the Food and Drug Administration many coffees found in grocery stores contain amounts of acrylamide hundreds of times higher than the EPAs drinking water safety standard.
The Solution: While you could always drink a lighter roast, if you like dark beans, that’s not an option. Instead, purchase your dark coffee from a company that doesn’t over roast the beans. Not only will it be better for you – the flavor will be much better as well.
So, why all of the doom and gloom?
Here at Camano Island Coffee Roasters, we feel strongly about educating our Coffee partners. We want to bring you the very best in home delivery, healthy coffee. The best involves single origin, shade-grown, certified organic, healthy coffee shipped right to your door. Let us share, educate, and celebrate single origin, organic, healthy coffee with you.
[button url=”/cicr/coffee-box/” label=”Pick Your Coffee Lover’s Box Now to Enjoy Healthy Coffee at Home!”]