I am a coffee aficionado and love coffee in absolutely any way possible: drip, latte, cappuccino and the list goes on! Coffee is a universal pleasure which, literally, everyone around the world enjoys having, one way or the other.
However, there are few risks that come with coffee consumption which, long-term, might impact one’s health. The good news is that anyone can mitigate these risks and that’s exactly the topic I’m going to cover today.
Risk #1 – Acrylamide
One of the chemical transformations that occurs in any burned food is the formation of a substance called acrylamide. These include burned bread (toast!), french fries, chips but also coffee. Very detailed studies have indicated that acrylamide is indeed present in roasted coffee.
Here’s what the American Cancer Society says in respect with acrylamide. Based on current research, some of these organizations have made the following determinations:
- The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies acrylamide as a “probable human carcinogen.”
- The US National Toxicology Program (NTP) has classified acrylamide as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.”
- The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies acrylamide as “likely to be carcinogenic to humans.”
How to ditch the acrylamide
The best way to avoid most of the acrylamide is to completely ditch the medium and dark roast types of coffee and always go with the light roast. Not only the danger is significantly less, but also comes with much more caffeine!
It’s kind of tricky to find light roasts in stores but there are multiple options online. Amazon is selling their own light roast and I simply love it for all reasons mentioned above.
Risk #2 – coffee acidity
One of the good things of brewing a hot coffee is that the extraction process takes care of delivering also the good anti-oxidants present in coffee into your cup. However, there are people, including myself, who have a problem with the acidity in coffee.
What I mean by acidity is less problems with your stomach after drinking a coffee (even on an empty stomach in the morning). Another problem of acidity is that it affects your teeth. This is a critical thing for me as I not only want to have my teeth in good shape but also want to look good in my workplace and in public.
How to ditch coffee acidity: Introducing cold-brew coffee
I’ve discovered cold brewing fairly recently via a good friend of mine. This ingenuous method requires nothing more than a beautifully crafted recipient which holds coffee in cold water and slowly allows the goodness in the coffee (minus the acidity) to reach the water.
You can use any device you want to brew. The one that I prefer to use is BPA-free and made in the US, plus it’s an Amazon best-seller:
So there you have it folks! Let me know how you like your coffee now!