Which Coffees are Highest in Antioxidants?

As researchers learn more about antioxidants with health and disease, they increasingly find themselves drawn to their influence on overall health. With them becoming an ever larger realm of study, people are looking for new ways to obtain high levels for them to be beneficial.

Since coffees are one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world, it was natural for researchers to test coffee.

Surprisingly, they found that some coffees have extremely high levels. The Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Pavia in Pavia, Italy, studied the antioxidants present in the green and dark roasted coffees Coffee Arabica and Coffee robusta.

They found that all of the studied coffees showed a strong presence of them and also antiradical activity.

There was no difference found between the green and dark roasted coffee, indicating that the roasting process did not damage the natural presence in the coffee beans.

The School of Food Bio Sciences at The University of Reading, Whiteknights in Reading, United Kingdom looked at the effects of roasting coffee and if that negatively affects the presence of it in the bean.

They studied Colombian Arabica coffee that was roasted to light, medium, and dark roast. The researchers found that the maximum detioxification activity was found in the medium roasted coffee.

This was in contrast to the previously held belief that dark roasts were higher in antioxidative content due to their darker color.

When the Nestle Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, studied the activity in caffeinated beverages, they were particularly interested in seeing what kind of levels were present in coffees and other beverages when served at standard conditions. The amounts were found to be higher in coffee than in cocoa or tea.

They found that the addition of milk to the coffee, as taken by many people worldwide, did not alter the activity of the antioxidant. The researchers also looked into the link between the type of beans for the coffee and the degree of roasting to see if either had any influence on the activity of the ratio.

They found that Robusta coffees that were served green had twice the level of antioxidants than Arabica coffees.

However, beyond this difference, the roasting of the coffee had little significant influence on the antioxidants.

Investigating brewed coffees to assess the benefit in levels was the key to a recent study done at the Department of Environmental Toxicology at the University of California in Davis, Calfornia.

Even after sitting for fifteen and thirty days, the brewed coffees exhibited exceptionally high levels.

This research suggests that drinking coffee may inhibit diseases caused by oxidative disorders. Finally, a study done by several different researchers at the University of Oslo in Norway, and the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, analyzed the antioxidants found in many common foods, including coffees, fruits, tea, wine, cereals, and vegetables.

The researchers surprisingly found that the levels were higher in coffee than any of the other foods, suggesting that drinking coffee was just as important to increasing the intake as eating properly.

In looking at antioxidants in coffee, it’s important to remember that the consumer must like the flavoring of the coffee in order to drink enough coffee to reap the most benefit.

While some studies have shown different levels in different types of beans and roasts, others have found little significance in these areas. The most important thing is to drink the coffee in order to benefit as much as possible.

© Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved. You can find more articles on coffee such as Starbucks Coffee Company, Coffee Beans and Coffee Colonics.

Coffee Legend: The Legend of Kaldi

Coffee trees continue to grow in the Ethiopian highlands. The legend of Kaldi originated here in the Ethiopian highlands. There might be some truth to the Kaldi legend, although we will probably never know for certain.

The legend is that it is said Kaldi discovered coffee after noticing that his goats became extremely spirited after eating berries from a certain tree – no doubt this was the “coffee tree.” They became so highly spirited or you might say “agitated” as coffee sometimes makes some humans a bit agitated or stimulated, that the goats did not want to sleep at night.

Kaldi was dedicated and loyal to the abbot of the local monastery and promptly reported his findings. The local monastery made a drink with the berries. He discovered the drink made from the berries of no doubt “the coffee tree,” kept him alert in the long hours of evening prayers. It was not long until the abbot shared his discovery with the other monks at the monastery. Very slowly, the knowledge about the energizing effects of the berries began to spread throughout the region and on into the east until coffee reached the Arabian Peninsula. At this point coffee began a journey that spread its reputation all over the world.

We can all trace our heritage of coffee to the trees in the ancient coffee forests of the Ethiopian highlands. Whether you live in Asia, Africa, Central or South American, the islands of the Caribbean or Pacific or the United States, coffee can be found growing in areas all around the world.

The first to cultivate coffee and begin its trade were the Arabs. In the fifteenth century, coffee could be found growing in the Yemeni district of Arabia and on into the sixteenth century coffee became known in Persia, Egypt, Syria and Turkey.

It may have become so popular because the Muslims forbid the alcoholic drink by the Koran. The Muslims found coffee’s energizing abilities to be an acceptable substitute for the alcoholic drink.

Coffee was drunk in homes and public coffee houses, which were called “gahveh khaneh.” These coffee houses began to appear in cities across the Near East. There was nothing quite like these coffee houses for people to gather in for all kinds of social activity. They would drink coffee, talk with each other, listen to music, watch performers, and play chess and tune into the most recent news of the day.

In the short time of 100 years, coffee established itself as a profitable crop throughout the world. Some crops prospered while others did not. Fortunes were made and lost. New nations became established on coffee economies.

By the end of the 18th century, coffee had become one of the world’s most profitable crops.

Source: The National Coffee Association. This article is FREE to publish with the resource box. Written by: Connie Limon Visit us at http://smalldogs2.com/CoffeeArticles for an extensive list of FREE reprint coffee articles.

Caffeine - Superhero or Supervillain?

Caffeine is good for you. Caffeine is bad for you. Is caffeine really an either/or proposition?

In the first place, deciding whether caffeine is good or bad is just another example of the relativism that scares so many people nowadays. Face it, we live in an increasingly standardized, one-size-fits-all world. Or at least that’s how big business, politicians and the educational system would have it. But as with most other things, your individual reaction to caffeine will vary from other people. Take tolerance to caffeine, for example. Just as there seem to be people who can sit down at a buffet and eat for an hour straight and never gain weight, there are also people who have high or low tolerances to the effects of the caffeine. While a single strong cup of java may be enough to leave one person jittery for the rest of the day, his buddy may be downing 20oz Mountain Dew bottles one after another all day long and still get to sleep by 10:00. While tolerance can vary significantly, caffeine does seem to affect children and older people more effectively.

What about dosage? Does it really matter? Regardless of your tolerance level, the advantageous effects of caffeine does depend on how much you consume. Studies have indicated that low to moderate intake of caffeine can stimulate both physical and mental alertness without bringing on any ill side effects. Ah, but what does low to moderate actually mean? Dispensing with special allowances for pregnancy or ill health, the recommended daily intake of caffeine is 85mg for children and 300mg for adults. So if you use that as a baseline, then an average adult would probably get the most out caffeine’s stimulating properties by taking in around 200mg. On the other side of the equation, if you find yourself consistently topping that 300mg mark, chances are you’ll be visited by not only the headache fairy, but his friends who like to wave their wand and reward you with anxiety, irritability and—maybe the most fun of them all—insomnia! The point: to get the most out of all the goodness that caffeine can bring, use it in moderation.

Okay, you want the nifty little superhero-like qualities that caffeine can bring, but you want to avoid any visitor from fairyland. Which beverage is really going to get you the most bang for your buck? Of course, when most people think of a caffeine jolt, the first thing that comes to mind is the toasty aroma of Arabica beans brewing. Coffee is still king when it comes to caffeine. Or is it? You may be surprised to find out that Americans, at least, drink significantly more caffeinated sodas in a year, on average, than they drink coffee. Even with Starbucks appearing on every other street in America. So, then, soft drinks are the new king of caffeine, right? Well, not so fast. While the jolted colas and bubbly green and yellow stuff sells more, in actuality they don’t contain as much caffeine as the average cup of coffee. Even a 12oz can of Mountain Dew pales in comparison to a 5oz cup of ground coffee brewed through the drip method. Doing the Dew grants you only 54mg of caffeine, while that cup of coffee could net you anywhere from twice that to almost 200 mg. Of course, let’s be honest, who drinks their coffee out of a 5oz cup anymore? But then again, who drinks only a can of Mountain Dew?

Basically, when it comes down the actual delivery system of getting caffeine into your blood supply, there is no wrong answer. Whether it’s coffee, soft drinks or even tea, the main thing you’ll probably want to consider is which tastes best to you.

It’s all relative.

Darren Williger is an over-caffeinated, low carbohydrate eating, winemaking enthusiast who writes for caffeinezone.com, mylowcarbpages.com, and homemadewine.com

The Art Of Coffee

This video shows an incredibile technique to decorate and serve a cup of coffee (and i don't mean the cup but the coffee itself!).

Would you dare to drink it?

An Introduction to Specialty Coffee

Specialty coffees differ from one place to another for couple of reasons, including the way in which it has been grown, the altitude, the area, the soil, and even in the way in which farmer cares for the coffee bean. Like the gourmet coffee, specialty coffees would differ from one country to another, one region to another, and year to year. Even the way the roaster treats the coffee to would have a big impact on the final taste.

Arabic Coffee beans

Arabic coffee beans are actually the most hunted after beans in the specialty market. They get special care and concentration all through the process of growing, milling and as well during roasting. Arabic coffee generally grows at high altitudes (maybe above 3,000 feet). This type of bean offers us with the finest tasting coffee.

Robust Coffee beans

Robust coffee beans are a very cheaper variety of coffee that is grown below 3,000 feet altitude. It is known as the poorer quality bean. Traditionally this has bean used to create cheaper blends and is used to “cut” a blend having Arabic. Drunk on its own it tastes reduced, with a small taste of rubber. This is not to say we need send away Robust out of hand; many roasters use Robust to brighten a blend.

The Roasting Process

The roasting process has a huge bearing on the ultimate quality of the cup. The uppermost quality coffee would taste poor if over- or under-roasted. Most coffee roasters when contribution you a fastidious coffee bean would tell you the degree of roasts, which they have employed or recommend. When roasting for one’s self it is best to pursue the roaster’s guide as they again are using their information of the coffee bean to tell you how this bean is most excellently presented.

Conclusion

To sum up, the world of specialty coffee could be quite intimidating for the newcomer. However by purchasing from a excellence supplier and taking for the right recommendation from the many sources accessible via the Internet, it could be a very satisfying journey around the continents, knowing the many and varied tastes that specialty coffee has to offer.

Adam Akelis is a professional copywriter who has a sound knowledge on coffee all time favorite drink. To know more on coffee, best gourmet coffee and gourmet coffee its benefits visit http://www.bluehillcoffee.com and to contact Adam Akelis adamakelis@gmail.com