Research over the years has repeatedly confirmed that drinking coffee results in a whole host of health benefits from reduced incidence of type II diabetes to Parkinson’s Disease to Alzheimer’s to various types of cancer. Coffee drinkers generally live longer. Although many people just drink coffee for the stimulant effect of the caffeine, it is not the caffeine in coffee that conveys the bulk of the health benefits. Rather it is the high concentration of antioxidants in coffee that make the difference.
Does Decaf Coffee Have Health Benefits?
Since caffeine is not the source of health benefits from coffee, one would not expect that removing it would not make a difference in health outcomes aside from reducing higher blood pressure, gastritis, and jitteriness, which are reasons that people opt for decaf in the first place. In fact, research shows that it makes no difference if you drink regular or decaf in terms of long term health outcomes. The antioxidants appear to be doing their job either way.
Are There Concerns About Drinking Decaf?
In order to remove caffeine from coffee, solvents are typically used. These are also removed as part of the process. Nevertheless, such impurities raise concerns with some coffee drinkers. Thankfully, the amount of solvent that remains after the decaf process if extremely small. Regulatory bodies like the US Food and Drug Administration have very low allowable limits in the range of ten parts per million. In Australia the allowable level is two parts per million. There has never been any evidence of harm to human health from levels so low.
Should You Drink Decaf Instead of Regular Coffee?
Your choice of decaf versus regular coffee is a matter of personal choice. If you are drinking coffee solely to wake up or stay awake, you need to stick with regular coffee. If you get gastritis, esophageal reflux, jitteriness, or elevated blood pressure from drinking coffee you will want to cut back on regular coffee or switch to decaf to reduce you caffeine intake, as caffeine in the reason for your unwanted side effects.
If You Are Still Worried About Solvents in Your Decaf Coffee Consider the Swiss Water Process
There is a decaf process that does not use solvents. It is the Swiss Water Process. This methods requires only time, temperature and water to accomplish removal of caffeine from coffee. This method preserves the purity of organic coffee as well as its original flavor profile. It starts with a green coffee (liquid) extract. Green beans are soaked in hot water and the liquid is passed over activated charcoal to remove the caffeine. This process results in the removal of 99.9% of the caffeine in a given batch of green coffee. Fortunately, this process does not remove any of the healthy antioxidants that provide long term health benefits!
How Dangerous Are the Side Effects of Drinking Regular Coffee?
As a rule, the jitteriness and heartburn come from drinking regular coffee, are temporary and not dangerous. The one clear exception is high blood pressure. If you start out with hypertension that is bad enough to require treatment evidence shows that drinking two or more cups of regular coffee each day will double your risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. This risk goes away if you drink a cup a day or less.