Is Decaf Coffee Good For Your Heart?
Who doesn’t enjoy a cup of coffee or two in the morning, afternoon or somewhere in between? Many are enjoying it but want to limit their intake for some reason. Decaffeinated coffee is one of the alternatives when you’re planning to limit your caffeine intake but still wants to enjoy coffee.
Decaf coffee is literally short for decaffeinated coffee. It is like a regular coffee that have had at least 97% of their caffeine has been removed. And there are many ways to remove caffeine from coffee beans like water, organic solvents or carbon dioxide. Before the beans are roasted and ground, the beans are already decaffeinated. Caffeine extraction may happen faster with roasted beans. Its taste and smell may become little milder and color may change depending on the process. Through this, decaf coffee are more pleasing to those who are not fond of bitter taste and smell of a regular coffee. And on the other hand, FDA approved the use of methylene chloride in the caffeine extraction process as long as the final product contains no more than 10ppm or 0.001% of residual methylene chloride.
Is decaf coffee good for your heart?
According to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the coffee drinking habit is not something to be guilty of as it may help protect one’s heart. It has found that drinking coffee as much as six cups a day does not increase blood pressure levels in long term. It could also reduce risk for type 2 diabetes, the antioxidants in coffee helps in blood sugar control. Even if drinking a small amount of coffee each day or as many as six or more cups further reduce risk.
Chemically, coffee contains a cholesterol-raising compound known as diterpenes, but this compound depends on how the coffee is being prepared. Your boiled coffee has a higher concentration of this compound, which can increase the total cholesterol and bad cholesterol levels while your filtered coffee has no effect on cholesterol levels.
Though there are some concerns that caffeine may increase risk for an irregular heartbeat, identified as arrhythmia, but drinking coffee appears to have no impact on arrhythmia risk. In fact, daily drinking of coffee may reduce arrhythmia risk.
Coffee consumption does not appear to have negative effect on heart health, it may even protect our hearts. Is decaf coffee good for your heart? Though it has other risks, as some people experience anxiety, trouble sleeping when their coffee contains highly doses of caffeine. For those who experience these negative side-effects may opt to drink decaffeinated coffee but for those healthy adults, drinking 3 cups of coffee or about 300mg of caffeine per day could be a safe intake.
It has also observed that decaffeinated coffee is one of the biggest sources of antioxidants along with regular coffee. Its main antioxidants are hydrocinnamic acids and polyphenols which are very effective at neutralizing reactive compounds known as free radicals. And resulting reduction in oxidative damage that helps in preventing heart diseases, cancer and type 2 diabetes.
A cup of brewed decaf coffee gives 2.4% of the recommended daily intake of magnesium, 4.8% of potassium and 2.5% of niacin, or vitamin B3. Excess in caffeine may overwhelm the central nervous system causing restlessness, anxiety, digestive problems, heart arrhythmia, and trouble sleeping. Thus, it is very important to limit one’s caffeine intake of regular coffee or even switch to decaffeinated coffee or tea.
Decaf is an excellent alternative to enjoy coffee without experiencing any side effects of too much caffeine. It has the most benefits but none of side effects. When you’re sensitive to caffeine, or when you have a serious medical condition, pregnant or a breastfeeding woman, you are advised to limit caffeine in your diet.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), a typical 8 ounce cup of decaf coffee has 2mg of caffeine. But caffeine content can vary in every brand, there are some decaf coffees contain up to 15mg per 8 oz cup. Though decaf coffee is not 100% caffeine-free as it contains significantly less caffeine than regular coffee. An 8 oz cup of regular coffee typically contains 80-100mg of caffeine.
In 2017 review, experts found a link between drinking decaf coffee and a reduced risk from cardiovascular disease. They noticed the greatest reduction in those who drank two to four cups per day. In addition FDA recommends adults to limit caffeine consumption to no more than 400mg per day, or around four or five cups of regular coffee.
In summary, decaf is widely chosen for those cutting caffeine in their diet. Its decaffeination process removes at least 97% of caffeine, so your decaf coffee still contain about 7mg peer 8-ounce (236ml) cup. Decaf is also loaded with antioxidant that has a lot of benefits. With all the above mentioned reasons you can now weigh and decide if a decaf coffee is good for your heart.
Related posts:









