coffee | Caffeine and You

Cheating Death: Do Coffee Drinkers Live Longer?

May 31, 2013 By Kate Heyhoe

Does coffee drinking cheat death?

Death is inevitable, but a major study shows…

“Coffee drinkers have a lower risk of death.”

I read this twice and still wondered: What exactly does this mean?

“Older adults who drank coffee, both caffeinated or decaffeinated, had a lower risk of death overall than people who did not drink coffee,” says a study sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI, a division of the National Institutes of Health) and AARP.

Coffee drinkers aren’t immortal – and they didn’t necessarily live longer – but they were less likely to die from such common killers as heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, injuries and accidents, diabetes, and infections. (The association was not seen for cancer, at least in this study, but other research shows coffee reduces the risk of certain cancers.)

Bottom line: coffee is safe to drink – that’s the biggest takeaway from this study. And coffee may even benefit your health. You’ll still die, but maybe not as soon.

A Relief for Billions Worldwide

Americans alone consume 400 million cups of coffee per day, so coffee’s health effects are a big deal.

For decades, coffee’s safety has been questioned. Early studies didn’t weed out smokers, who tend to live life on the edge by eating more red meat and few fruits and vegetables, drinking alcohol, and avoiding exercise. Smokers also tend to drink a lot of coffee. (Previous coffee research is also complicated by conflicting results, which may be due to poor methodology, small samples, conflating caffeine and coffee, or for other reasons.)

But unlike early research, the NCI/AARP study is the largest and longest running of its kind. It analyzed coffee-drinking habits of 400,000 men and women aged 50 to 71 – and it controlled for people with poor health habits, known chronic diseases (like cancer), and other data-skewing factors.

The study analyzed the habits of 229,119 men and 173,141 women over 14 years. Respondents completed questionnaires about their diet and health information in 1995 and 1996, and were tracked through 2008; by the end of the study, 52,000 had died.

The Bottom Line

Generally speaking, here’s what the data showed:

• The more coffee consumed, the less likely a person was to die from various common health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, infections, and even injuries and accidents.

• The risk of dying during the 14-year period was 10 percent lower for men and 15 percent lower for women who drank from two to six or more cups of coffee per day, regardless of whether the coffee was caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee.

• Regular, long-term coffee consumption is associated, then, with a lower risk for certain life-threatening diseases. This study doesn’t support cause and effect: it doesn’t show that drinking coffee itself creates better health or longer life. We can’t be sure why the coffee-drinkers had less disease, only that a significant percentage of them did – and that 5-cup a day drinkers had less incidence of disease than the 2-cup a day group.

Coffee has more than a thousand compounds, including caffeine, which has been well-researched but still confounds scientists. The next step, says Dr. Neal Freedman, the study’s lead author, is to explore these compounds to determine their health impact, both singly and in combination.

***

The results of the study were published in the May 17, 2012, edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. You can read the actual study here:

Association of Coffee Drinking with Total and Cause-Specific Mortality

Coffee Life in Japan: book review

May 4, 2013 By Kate Heyhoe

Everyone knows that coffee houses have been magnets for artists, writers, and political free thinkers throughout history. But in Japan??? The culture where teahouses, matcha, and tea rituals were born?

Wake up to the world of Coffee Life in Japan, a book brimming with surprising tidbits, astute observations, and stories from the heart.

Author and cultural anthopologist Merry White knows Japan as only an outsider living on the inside can. She’s written several books on Japan, artfully weaving together social customs, timelines and personal experience.

Coffee Life in Japan reveals 130 years of Japan’s love affair with coffee. It’s a story that includes mass emigrations to Brazil, risqué modern art, “wise women” cafe masters, trade fortunes, modern kissaten cafes, and global trendspotting of Japanese glass siphon machines.

Like a soothsayer reading tea leaves (or coffee grounds), White picks out clues in the minutia of Japanese daily life; then she enlightens us, deciphering what these signs mean about coffee’s impact – past, present and future – not just in Japan, but worldwide as well. I’m fascinated by “what makes people tick” and Coffee Life in Japan gave me enough to go back for second-helpings; I couldn’t absorb everything in just one reading. What fun!

Coffee in Time

I discovered more details about coffee’s impact on modern culture than I had previously imagined, along with events not typically taught in History 101. For instance…

Japan’s first “coffeehouse master” was Tei Ei-kei, who in 1888 opened Japan’s first coffeehouse, the now famous (and long gone) Kahiichakan. Tei Ei-kei was a Japanese son adopted by a Chinese gentleman, raised in Beijing and Kyoto, and fluent in four languages. He enrolled at Yale University at age sixteen, and developed a taste for coffee in America before dropping out. In London on his journey home, he seized on the model for his coffeehouse: a cushy, club-like salon with Western style and modern appeal. Alas, he was a better dreamer than businessman, and his cafe closed in just five years. Both his first and second wives (who happened to be sisters) died of tuberculosis. After a failed suicide attempt, he started a new life in Seattle, but soon died at the age of 36. Yet even today, coffee fans and industry leaders visit his gravesite there. And in Tokyo, the Sanyo Electric Company honors his legacy – and the importance of coffee – with a brick monument and oversized coffee cup, dedicated to the master on the site of Japan’s first coffeehouse, the Kahiichakan.

Brazil is home to the most people of Japanese-descent (other than Japan itself), in large part because of coffee. And Japan’s people assisted Brazil’s rise to coffee domination. Brazil’s immigrant recruitment policies, coupled with Japan’s economic hardships, led to a win-win relationship. In the 1880s, Japanese laborers were first brought to Brazil to work the coffee plantations and to grow coffee. Waves of workers arrived through the 1970s, especially after the Kanto earthquake in 1923. Some Japanese earned enough to buy land to grow coffee, and others returned home with a taste for coffee. By 1923, Japanese plantations owned 60 million coffee trees in Brazil. A large Japanese coffee chain, Mizuno Ryu’s Cafe Paulista, grew out of this surge, and spread Japanese-grown Brazilian coffee throughout Japan. A national coffee habit was born.

There are other tasty tidbits, too.

• Early Portuguese missionaries and traders introduced Brazilian coffee to Japan. (They also, as I’ve written about at GlobalGourmet.com, introduced deep-fat frying to Japanese cooks, which evolved into fried “tempura” dishes.)

• In the 1990s, white-collar businessmen who had been unceremoniously fired from their jobs would leave for “work” and hide out in cafes, before returning home to their unsuspecting families.

• The Germans warehoused coffee in Yokohama before World War II. During the war, coffee imports into Japan dried up. Faux-coffee drinks were brewed from nuts, soybeans and grains. Towards the war’s end, the Japanese raided and distributed the German coffee to the Japanese army, as part of the national war effort.

White’s focus is on the role that coffee and cafes play in today’s Japanese culture, which is much more nuanced than I’ve recounted here. But these few concrete examples serve as welcoming entry points for Western minds to enter the kissaten, or Japanese cafes, which are found on every block – and unlike Starbucks, are uniquely Japanese in form, function, and feel.

When in Japan: Cups of Culture

Make no mistake: this book is not a travel guide, but as a bonus material it includes White’s “Unreliable Guide” to key cafes. Descriptions entertain even the armchair traveler, like this entry:

Tokyo’s Kafe do Ramburu: “Sekiguchi opened the shop in 1948 using Indonesian beans that had been stored for shipment to Germany before the war. Specializing on old beans (such as Cuban 1974s and Colombian 1989s) roasted to order, Sekiguchi has as idiosyncratic, demanding style and has been called koohiimaniakku (coffee maniac), but the coffee is indeed worth the visit.”

If you’re a koohiimaniakku, clearly Coffee Life in Japan is the must-have book for you.

Coffee Life in Japan

by Merry White. Published by University of California Press (2012). California Studies in Food and Culture, Darra Goldstein, Editor. Available as hardcover, paperback and ebook.

Calcium, Bones and Caffeine: Tips for Women

May 3, 2013 By Kate Heyhoe

Caffeine slightly reduces calcium absorption in your bones, but not as drastically as early reports suggested.

Order the Cappuccino?

Moderation appears to be the key, and adding more calcium to the diet offsets caffeine’s impact. One study suggests that adding a tablespoonful or two of milk to your coffee is enough to replace the lost calcium. So this may be a good reason to indulge in a frothy cappuccino rather than straight espresso.

According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation:

Drinking more than three cups of coffee every day may be harmful to bone health.
You can replace caffeine’s calcium loss by getting enough calcium to meet your body’s needs.
The phosphorous in soft drinks may also contribute to calcium loss.

There’s no need to give up caffeine, coffee, tea, and chocolate – they appear to have many benefits, from preventing certain cancers to boosting our bodies with antioxidants to possibly reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia. But when it comes to bone health, experts say large amounts of caffeine are not advisable, especially among post-menopausal women.

In one study of nearly 500 women, aged 65 to 77 years old, high amounts of caffeine (more than 300 mg daily, or about three cups of coffee) appeared to significantly accelerate bone loss at the spine. Plus, women who shared a particular genotype experienced the highest rate of bone loss. Other studies have a found that a gene that codes for the vitamin D receptor also impacts caffeine levels associated with caffeine.

So as we’ve seen before, a person’s genetic make-up plays a role in caffeine’s impact on the body. If you’re a moderate caffeine consumer, you may want to boost calcium just a bit. For more information, check out this page by the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

Does Death Wish Coffee Live Up to Its Claims?

April 20, 2013 By Kate Heyhoe

Journalists do crazy things to chase a story.

Taste-testing Death Wish Coffee isn’t as harrowing as being waterboarded – which Christopher Hitchens did in 2008. But for a caffeine-sissy like me, the prospect of hyper-caffeination was nearly as unnerving. Fortunately, my actual experience was far more pleasant than Hitch’s (which he details in Vanity Fair). His was torture, mine was…well, I’ll get to that later.

It’s not my fault I’m a caffeine wuss; I blame it on my genes. A mug of half-caff is my morning max. So when Death Wish Coffee claimed it was 200 times more caffeinated than regular coffee, I realized – reluctantly – that to write about it, I would have to try it. Reporters do what we gotta do.

Death Wish Coffee does a masterful job of sounding ominous – and fun. “The World’s Strongest Coffee” comes in a pitch-black bag, emblazoned with skull and crossbones. The website screams out to daredevils: “This is Extreme Coffee, not for the weak. Consider yourself Warned.” And the company pastes this statement – more of a challenge – on every bag:

In Truthiness We Trust

But what really sparked my attention was the claim – or claims – of caffeine potency. They confused me. In comparing itself to regular coffee, Death Wish Coffee advertises:

200% more caffeine
twice as caffeinated
close to 200% more caffeine

Words matter. If something is 200 percent MORE caffeinated, it’s actually three times as caffeinated. If it’s 200 percent AS caffeinated, it contains twice the caffeine. I’m not sure how to interpret “close to 200% more caffeine.” Maybe this is nitpicking, but when it comes to caffeine, three cups of coffee deliver far more punch than two cups. And Death Wish’s pitch is all about the caffeine.

So I asked the owner, Mike Brown, to clarify:

Q: I’ve seen media stories saying Death Wish Coffee is 200 percent more caffeinated than regular coffee. Is this an accurate statement?

A: Yes, if brewed correctly.

Q: Your website also says: “200 percent more caffeine” which seems confusing. Do you mean 200 percent as caffeinated, not 200 percent more caffeinated [than regular coffee]?

A: Double the amount of regular coffee. When brewed to our specs.

Okay. So I got my answer, but not without a slight disconnect. It’s twice as caffeinated, not three times as caffeinated – when brewed “correctly” (the company recommends a generous 2-1/2 tablespoons ground coffee per 6-ounce cup).

Death Wish has a lot going for it as a product. I think “double-the-caffeine” is a terrific marketing angle. But when the word “more” is inserted after 200 percent, the claim ripples with Stephen Colbert-style truthiness – people believe it’s three times as caffeinated, even if it’s not. From Good Morning America to NPR, media outlets have blindly repeated this claim.

But does this language-thingy matter? Not to extreme caffeine-junkies. Death Wish has plenty of Facebook followers and 17,800 Likes. Clearly, if you’re into caffeine from coffee (as opposed to energy drinks), this is the brew for you.

A Blast-o-Caff

So what makes Death Wish Coffee more caffeine-rich than other coffees? “Different types of beans and brew methods have different levels of caffeine. Most can be found with a little research,” says Brown; he’s a barista who’s been tinkering with caffeine levels for the past five years.

Coffee experts would agree. For instance, dark roasting destroys more caffeine than lighter roasting. Fine grinds and longer steeping put more caffeine in the cup. Most importantly, caffeine varies according to plant species. Coffea robusta is more caffeinated than her sister bean, Coffea arabica. Robusta also leans toward strong and bitter in flavor, and is typically valued in espresso blends. Arabica is the choice of premium coffee roasters, who find it smoother, more refined. Robusta is hardier to grow, less expensive, and often mixed with arabica to help control costs.

So what beans does Death Wish contain? A passage on their website clearly and accurately details the nuances of robusta, arabica, and roasting levels. I read it several times before realizing: it never specifies what types of beans Death Wish actually uses.

So I asked the owner:

Q. Are you using robusta or arabicas? Your media kit/website is unclear on which bean you’re actually using.

A. We can tell you that our coffee comes from the regions of Central America, Ethiopia and Indonesia. That is all we can say for now. We like to keep the type of beans a secret within the Death Wish staff. 🙂

Brown’s position is understandable; trade secrets are a brand’s lifeblood. So consumers will have to be satisfied with his statement that ” …we went on a mission to find a coffee that is not only dark, rich, bold and flavorful but also has high caffeine content. All while being grown organically, fairly traded, and shade grown (saves the land). To boot we found one that is also bird friendly.” Brown adds that his coffee is not genetically modified, contains no artificial ingredients, and is organic (though not Certified Organic) – all good stuff.

If Rambo Drank Coffee…

Now, to my testing. Brown shipped me a bag of ground Death Wish Coffee. How does Death Wish Coffee taste? Powerful, but not in a bad way. What a relief! I was afraid it would be so bitter I’d prefer waterboarding, but it was fine. Death Wish didn’t send me to heaven, but it sure wasn’t battery acid from hell either. My Jura-Capresso poured out a stout brew with a thick and lovely layer of crema.

One taster in my office said it reminded him of what you’d drink at a business hotel – for executives on the go, go, go. Another taster who leans to milder coffee even enjoyed the robust aroma and taste, but wouldn’t make a habit out of it – adding it was not much different from popular coffees served today. Fans on the Death Wish website praise the flavor, and I can see how it would appeal to many. Taste is in the buds of the beholder.

Here’s what I would add: Try it in cooking. Most recipes calling for coffee use too little to inject a noticeable caffeine jolt; but when I added Death Wish to tiramisu and brownies, they seemed to buzz a little bit brighter. You could say they were addictive.

Tech Guy and Chief TWiT Leo Laporte once podcasted his love for Black Blood of the Earth, a hyper-caffeinated coffee concentrate. I asked Brown if he’d heard of it and what he thought. “Yes, it’s a great product…made with our beans.”

Cost: $19.99 per 1-pound bag (ground or whole beans); $80 per 5-pound bag. At DeathWishCoffee.com and on Amazon.com

“Fast Money” Chile-Chocolate-Coffee Coins

April 4, 2013 By Kate Heyhoe

“Fast Money” Chile-Chocolate-Coffee Coins

Makes 18 (1-inch) coins

by Kate Heyhoe

It takes longer to balance your checkbook than to make these spicy little chocolate coins. They’re laced with smoky chipotle chile, and topped with ground coffee beans and cocoa nibs. If you’ve got some cocoa powder handy, dust the coins with a hit for visual contrast. Each coin gives a small boost of caffeine and theobromine, from the coffee and chocolate.

Equipment is simple: a microwave oven to melt the chocolate, a small glass bowl, wax paper, and some measuring spoons and cups. I use Ghirardelli bittersweet baking chips with 60% cacao, but substitute your favorite brand.

This recipe makes 18 coins, and you can easily double it if you want more. As for variations: cinnamon instead of (or in addition to) the chipotle tastes just as good. Nuts? Sure, why not. Milk chocolate instead of bittersweet? Go for it. Crystallized ginger, dried cherries? Anything goes, but maybe not all on the same coin.

Ingredients

2 ounces (1/3 cup) bittersweet chocolate baking chips (60% cacao)
1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle chile
1-1/2 teaspoons very coarsely ground roasted coffee beans
1 teaspoon cocoa nibs
Cocoa powder for dusting (optional)

Line a small pan or flat surface with waxed paper. Pour the chocolate baking chips and chipotle chile into a small glass bowl (microwave safe). Melt the chocolate in a microwave at 50% power in 30-second bursts, stirring after each burst. You’ll need to do this 2 or 3 times, until the final stirring turns any last clumps into smooth, melted chocolate.

Using a half-teaspoon measuring spoon, scoop up some chocolate and drop it onto the waxed paper, to create 1-inch chocolate coins. Sprinkle a pinch each of coffee beans and of cocoa nibs over the top of each coin. Use the back of a clean spoon to gently tap the coffee and cocoa nibs into the melted chocolate, just enough so they stick when cooled. If desired, scoop some cocoa powder into a spoon and tap it onto each coin (over a sieve if you have one), just to leave an artistic dusting. Let the coins cool at room temperature until hard, or chill them for 10 minutes in a refrigerator. Peel the solid coins off the wax paper and serve at room temperature.

To store: Place the coins in layers, separated by wax paper, in an airtight container; or refrigerate up to 2 weeks.