by Matt Gibson
Studies in recent years have shown that coffee drinkers who regularly drink unfiltered coffee could have issues with higher cholesterol levels. Coffee filters prevent oily compounds called diterpenes from entering your final brew. The most common diterpenes found in unfiltered coffee are cafestol and kafweol, both of which are known to block receptors in your intestines that help your body keep your cholesterol levels in check.
Coffee Brewing methods that use filters, like the drip coffee method, which uses a simple paper filter, and the pour over method, which uses a filter with three layers of filtration, work to filter out these compounds, keeping them out of your coffee, and should not affect your cholesterol levels or cause other issues. This means pour overs are not any better or worse for you than coffee brewed with different devices that brew filtered coffee, such as electric coffee makers.
What complicates matter is that these same compounds, cafestol and kafweol, which have been found to increase LDL cholesterol levels, as well as overall cholesterol levels in your in your body, are the same substances found in coffee, which are credited for a large portion of the health benefits of coffee, including heart health. These are the compounds that are also responsible for the cancer fighting properties of the popular drink.
The health benefits of coffee drinking are a hot topic, and there are opinions on both sides of the issue that have valid arguments for why coffee is or is not a healthy drink. However, many health professionals agree, that drinking a moderate amount of filter coffee regularly, can be a part of a healthy diet, and may even decrease the risk of heart disease. As long as the person does not have cardiovascular issues, a few cups of coffee each day is not going to hurt them, and could potentially help. Those with cardiovascular disease, however, should limit their coffee intake or steer clear of coffee all together.
So, what does all of this mean for coffee lovers? Well, the best brewing process for filtering coffee oils and thereby removing diterpenes from your brew are drip coffee machines and the pour-over method. The pour over method removes even more of the harmful/helpful compounds from entering your brew than the drip machine.
So, coffee drinkers who already have issues involving high cholesterol levels should consider using a pour over device or an electric drip machine if they are going to keep drinking coffee, so that they are able to filter out the majority of diterpenes from their brew. However, those with no cholesterol issues may want to occasionally mix in a cup of unfiltered coffee, such as a French press coffee in order to get some of those diterpenes in their brew just for their cancer fighting and free-radical fighting properties.
Pour-over coffee is not bad for you, and is in fact, one of the healthiest ways to drink coffee, in moderation. Coffee brewers can keep drinking delicious coffee regularly, as long as they are brewing coffee using a pour-over brewer or the drip method and brew their coffee with an unbleached coffee filter. This helps remove unwanted compounds and oils from the brew. After switching to filtered brewing methods and unbleached filters, other important ways to limit any negative effects that drinking coffee may have on your health, is to limit additives like sugar and creamer, and consider the type of coffee you brew. A great way to steer clear of unhealthy additives is to buy organic coffee beans or organic ground coffee beans. These additives diminish the positive health effects that coffee provides. Buying organic coffee helps to keep you safe from ingesting the residuals of pesticides, which are commonly used in non-organic coffee farms.