YOU might want to think twice before using your trendy cafetiere. A study published in a recent British Medical Journal linked cafetiere coffee and other unfiltered coffee with raised cholesterol levels. Subjects who drank cafetiere coffee had increased cholesterol concentration by six to 10 per cent, which is estimated to crease coronary risk by 12 to 20 per cent.
In support of past research, this latest report from the Netherlands found that filtered, instant, espresso and cappuccino coffee did not have cholesterol raising effects. It would take 25 cups of espresso a day to produce the cholesterol raising effects of plungerbrewed coffee.
Rob Urgert, at the Department of Human Nutrition at: Wageningen Agricultural University in the Netherlands and an author of the report, admits that the strength of coffee in the study was probably higher than used in many countries. Subjects drank five to six cups of cafetiere coffee per day and were allowed to dilute it if it was too strong.
Urgert does say people with high cholesterol might be wise to drink only filter coffee. "But if you don't have high cholesterol and you like to drink one or two cups of cafetiere coffee, a day, it won't be any problem.
Researchers have known for some time that boiled coffee (in which grounds are boiled in water for a prolonged period and served without filtering) raises cholesterol levels. Although the harmful effects originally were attributed to caffeine, scientists now know that the cholesterol raising elements are cafestol and kahweol, two naturally occurring substances.
Boiled coffee which passes through a paper filter does not show cholesterol raising effects. Coffee has suffered a lot of bad press, it has been linked with a range of diseases including stroke, infertility, miscarriage, cancer and even schizophrenia. But a substantial amount of research concludes that a moderate intake of coffee (about 300 milligrams per day, or two to three small cups) is unlikely to be harmful.
One reason the effects of coffee are difficult to study is because heavy coffee consumption often cannot be separated from other aspects of personality and lifestyle. Excessive coffee drinkers tend to be driven people who may not be the best health risks.
Is tea a healthier choice? Recently, tea has been credited with providing possible health benefits, including reduced risk of heart disease, lower cholesterol and the suppression of certain cancer causing agents. The healthy ingredients are believed to be flavonoids, components of tea with anti oxidant properties.
But most research has been conducted on green tea, the form consumed in Japan. The other form is black tea. Results of laboratory tests on black tea are mixed and more research needs to be done.