Organic Coffee versus Regular
Why do we choose organic coffee versus regular? After all regular coffee is cheaper, has caffeine and is easy to find at the grocery store. There are two good reasons for drinking organic coffee versus regular, your health and the environment.
Coffee, Organic and Health
Coffee is good for you. There are lots and lots of studies showing that coffee consumption reduces your risk of getting various types of cancer.
Prostate cancer, endometrial cancer, and colon cancer may all occur less often in long term coffee drinkers. To avoid cancer by drinking coffee it appears as though one needs to drink as much as four cups a day although some research studies show benefits in individuals with lower levels of coffee consumption. In general the benefits of coffee in the case of reducing the incidence of cancer have to do with chemicals called antioxidants found in roasted coffee.
In addition coffee improves athletic performance and even your sex life. Coffee drinkers are less depressed and less likely to come down with diseases of aging like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. But how does organic coffee differ from regular coffee in regards to health?
Coffee Impurities and Certification
The way to know that you are buying organic coffee is to look for proof of organic coffee certification on the bag.
The soil in which organic coffee is grown must have been verified as free from prohibited substances for at least three years. In addition there must be distinct boundaries between land on which organic coffee is grown and land where pesticides, herbicides, and prohibited chemical fertilizers are used. This guarantees that drift of substances sprayed or otherwise applied on adjacent land will not contaminate the organic plot of land. Organic coffee certification includes the adherence to a specific and verifiable plan for all practices and procedures from planting to crop maintenance, to harvest, de-husking, bagging, transport, roasting, packaging, and final transport. Along the way procedures must be in place at every step to insure that there is no contamination of the healthy organic coffee produced in pristine soil with regular coffee produced on soil exposed to herbicides, pesticides, and organic fertilizers.
The Australian health authority tested regular coffee some years back and found up to 130 unwanted impurities. Why you want to drink organic coffee versus regular is to avoid unwanted herbicides, pesticides, fungicides and residue of synthetic fertilizers in your cup of Java.
Organic Coffee and the Environment
Organic coffee is grown using sustainable agricultural techniques. The soil and the water table are protected and their quality preserved. When coffee farmers grow coffee in the shade they also preserve habitat for songbirds. In fact there is a certification specifically for coffee for the birds. The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center has a Bird Friendly Coffee certification. Other certifications to look for are Rainforest Alliance, UTZ and the gold standard, USDA (United States Department of Agriculture). Drink organic coffee and support coffee farmers who work to preserve the environment for future generations as well as produce a high quality and healthy organic coffee.
Organic Coffee without Caffeine
If you like your cup of Java, but not the jitters, how about organic coffee without caffeine? The health benefits of coffee are largely from the antioxidants so what’s to lose? How do they make decaf organic coffee? And how do you know the entire process is certified?
Indirect versus Direct Methods of Decaffeination
There are two methods for removing caffeine that use solvents. The direct solvent method soaks coffee beans in the solvent and the indirect solvent method beans are soaked in water and the caffeine rich water is treated with a solvent. When you purchase regular decaffeinated coffee it may have made this way. But there is no organic certification for either of these processes.
CO2 Method of Decaffeination
This is a new high tech approach to making decaf coffee. Coffee beans are placed in a very strong stainless steel tank where liquid CO2 (carbon dioxide) is introduced until the pressure in the tank is 1,000 pounds per square inch. The carbon dioxide selectively dissolves caffeine and leaves the other constituents behind. The CO2 is drawn off and allowed to return to a gas form releasing the caffeine which allows the re-liquefied CO2 to be used again and again.
This is a very pricey way to decaffeinate coffee unless done on a huge scale. Thus it gets used for processing of large quantities of ordinary decaf coffee for grocery stores. None of this is certified organic.
Finally, Certified Organic Decaf Coffee
The Swiss water method does not use solvents to decaffeinate coffee. It was invented 80 years ago but required decades for technical improvements to make it cost effective. The company that does this is in Vancouver, B.C. and their process for making decaf organic coffee is certified.
To remove caffeine, coffee beans are soaked in hot water. The water passes through a large-pore activated charcoal filter with pore size such that larger caffeine molecules are trapped and smaller molecules (oils, antioxidants) pass through. The remaining water contains flavor elements but not caffeine. Then the first batch of caffeine-free beans is discarded.
Now new beans are soaked in the new flavorful but caffeine free water. Osmosis causes caffeine to leech out of the beans because of the difference in coffee concentration between bean and water. The flavor elements, antioxidants, etc. remain in the bean because there is not concentration difference between bean and water.
All batches are tested to guarantee that their coffee is 99.5% caffeine free. And decaf coffee made this way is always labeled as Swiss Water decaf.
There are lots of great organic coffees and there are decaf organic coffees made without processes as well. The question is if you are going to the trouble and expense of buying decaf organic coffee shouldn’t you be looking for a certified organic process for the last step. Remember that organic certification should include every step from the coffee farmer to you. If a coffee roaster or decaf maker uses the same equipment for both regular and decaf or stores in the same bins without cleaning in between you have broken the organic coffee certification chain. Our advice is to look for the Swiss water label if you are looking for organic coffee without caffeine.
Climate Change Drives Coffee Farmers to Higher Elevations
In the coffee growing region of Colombia they grow varieties like Caturra at lower altitudes around 3,000 to 5,000 while Arabica grows best in the 5,000 feet and above range. Part of this is because of coffee leaf rust which thrives at lower altitudes. As temperatures have risen on the mountainsides of Colombia, Arabica is being planted higher and higher while left rust resistant Caturra replaces it in the low and middle altitudes. This problem is not limited to Colombia as climate change drives coffee farmers to higher elevations.
At the Source of Coffee
Ethiopia is the region where coffee first grew wild is a major coffee producer. It ranks number five after Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia and Indonesia. Ethiopia has the same problem as Colombia with its Arabica coffee which makes up a fourth of its production. Modern Farmer discusses how coffee is among the first crops to be affected by climate change.
Coffee among the First Crops to Feel the Effect of Climate Change
It’s pretty alarming that this new study projects that between 39 and 59 percent of Ethiopia’s coffee-growing land will be unsuitable for coffee shrubs by the end of the century. And there are signs to indicate the country is well on its way to that disastrous future; huge droughts have swept through Ethiopia in the past few years, putting the entire country’s ability to feed itself at risk.
The problem when it heats up is that it also can get very dry and the combination of heat and drought in an area like Ethiopia which has an arid climate anyway can be devastating. Coffee farmers will keep moving up the slopes so long as there is room to plant and the necessary water. But eventually coffee farmers may need to move north or south instead of up. We mentioned that when we wrote about climate change resistant coffee.
Year after year meteorologists report that average global temperatures have hit another high for the modern era. Considering that what is today the frozen arctic once supported palm trees we have wondered if growing coffee on the arctic tundra will one day be possible. But what would extreme climate change do to coffee production? Last year we asked if climate change could destroy coffee production.
Higher temperatures, more chaotic weather patterns, droughts and floods we become the norm as the world climate change, according to experts. The Tech Times writes about the effect of climate change on agriculture.
Paleontologists have unearthed fossils of dinosaurs and palm trees in the extreme north and south. For the time being coffee farmers plant their Arabica higher and higher up the mountain and many make do with hardy but lower quality Robusta in the lower altitudes. To the degree that plan breeding helps countries like Colombia can develop Arabica hybrids that are more disease resistant but still flavorful. What is clear is that the production of coffee will become more difficult and quality may suffer as things heat up over the years.
Organic Gardening with Coffee Grounds
Summer is upon us and that means gardening. And whether you have a few pots of tomatoes on the patio or a large plot of ground, sustainable agriculture is the way to go. Organic gardening is fun and it is healthy. And organic gardening with coffee grounds is a great way to return mulch and antioxidants to the soil. Gardening Knowhow discusses composting with coffee grounds.
The benefit of using coffee grounds as a fertilizer is that it adds organic material to the soil, which improves drainage, water retention and aeration in the soil. The used coffee grounds will also help microorganisms beneficial to plant growth thrive as well as attract earthworms.
Many people feel that coffee grounds lower the pH (or raise the acid level) of soil, which is good for acid loving plants. But this is only true for unwashed coffee grounds. “Fresh coffee grounds are acidic. Used coffee grounds are neutral.” If you rinse your used coffee grounds, they will have a near neutral pH of 6.5 and will not affect the acid levels of the soil.
To use coffee grounds as fertilizer, work the coffee grounds into the soil around your plants. Leftover diluted coffee works well like this too.
Besides adding nitrogen to the soil, improving water retention and improving drainage there are more benefits to organic gardening with coffee grounds.
Keeping Pests Away
Some gardeners work used coffee grounds in to the soil around favorite plants to keep slugs and snails away and even deter cats from wandering through the garden and using it as a litter box. Coffee grounds in the soil also appear to attract earthworms which further improve the quality of your garden soil.
What Soil Nutrients Come with the Coffee Grounds?
According to Sunset coffee grounds, from Starbucks, contain phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and copper as well as nitrogen according to a coffee soil compost test.
Based on the overall chemistry and physical properties of the coffee grounds, they can be utilized at rates similar to other organic amendments when used in amending mineral soils. These data indicate that 25-35 percent by volume coffee grounds can be blended with mineral soils of any type to improve structure of those soils.
Only a small portion of the nitrogen in coffee grounds is readily available for the plants. Thus you won’t get a rapid increase in nitrogen availability but you will get a slow release over time.
Coffee: the Multipurpose Food
Organic coffee is healthy and good for you. The sustainable agriculture that produces organic coffee is good for the environment. Used coffee grounds find their way into beauty products and as we recently wrote organic coffee for hair is a good thing.
But now that gardening season is upon us it is time to return coffee grounds to the soil from whence they came. Organic gardening with coffee grounds works for a few patio plants and it works for a large garden. Till in to a depth of about six inches. Rinse with water beforehand if you want to avoid increasing soil acidity and forget rinsing if you want to acidify your soil. You can get a soil test by taking a few ounces of your garden soil to your country agricultural extension agent and then you will know which way to go.
Organic Coffee for Percolator
We have written about the best ways to make coffee including the use of a French press, adding coffee to water and boiling like Grandma did on the farm and pouring boiled water over coffee grounds like they do in the Eje Cafetero of Colombia. But what if you routinely need to make coffee for 50 or 100 people? And what if you still want great coffee? You will probably use a percolator with organic coffee. If you have not used one, what is a percolator and how does it work?
Coffee Percolator
A coffee percolator is a large container that heats water with a heating element at the bottom. Boiling water rises up a central metal tube and drips through ground coffee which is contained in a metal device with perforations like a strainer. The hot water extracts the coffee by circulating up the tube, through the coffee down to the container and then back up the tube to pass over the coffee. The heating element reduces temperature when the coffee is done. This happens by a thermostat that reads the temperate of the water higher in the container. A problem with percolators is that if the cycle runs too long it over extracts the coffee resulting in a bitter taste. Use about a tablespoonful of coffee for each cup of water which works out to about 2 ½ cups of ground coffee for forty cups of water.
Organic Coffee for Percolator
The Café Altura organic coffee web site as a few suggestions about the best coffees for a percolator.
Coffee percolators were all the rage before automatic drip coffee makers took their place. Still, many coffee aficionados prefer percolators because they brew rich, full-bodied coffee that is full of flavor. People who want to have full control over how long the coffee percolates choose glass stovetop percolators, while those who want to automate the process use electronic percolators.
When you use a percolator, some coffee will taste better than others. Consider the roast and the country of origin in order to pick the best coffee for your percolator.
They suggest that a dark roast is more likely to come out bitter when over brewed in a percolator and light roasts end up tasting watery. Thus they suggest a Goldilocks approach of sticking with medium roasts.
Their suggested sources of organic coffee for a percolator are these:
Colombia
Indonesia
Ethiopia
Guatemala
Peru
But where, for example can you get organic coffee from Colombia?
Here is a short list of Colombian organic coffee brands as well as high grade Colombian coffees that are essentially same-as-organic but without official certification.
- Volcan
- Sostenible
- Linea Roja
- Origen
- Frailes
- Juan Valdez
- Oma
- La 14
- Aguila Roja
As we have often mentioned it can be difficult to get antioxidant rich organic coffee from Colombia out of Colombia. If you are interested in any of these products please contact us at Buy Organic Coffee for assistance.
We will be pleased to help you obtain smaller quantities of green coffee or roasted organic coffee for personal use. And if you are interested in wholesale coffee in shipping containers please contact us for a quote.
Lose Weight with Organic Coffee
There are lots of health benefits of organic coffee but how about weight loss? A few years ago there was a suggestion that you could lose weight with green coffee beans and green coffee extract.
A recent study reports that a group of overweight volunteers lost a significant amount of weight by taking a gram of green coffee bean extract daily for five months. Without any change to their diets or exercise regimen the volunteers were able to lose weight with green coffee beans as the only addition to their lives. Researchers reported that there were no unwanted side effects such as elevation of blood pressure or heart rate in the study volunteers. On the average each person lost ten pounds. Evidence of weight loss with green coffee beans is just one more fact added to the list of benefits of regular and healthy organic coffee.
This really sounded good until more information surfaced. Then we wrote about the bogus green coffee extract claim.
The Federal Trade Commission has levied a fine of $3.5 million on Applied Food Sciences, the company that sponsored the study claiming that green coffee extract resulted in weight loss. Here is a quote from the FTC.
The study’s lead investigator repeatedly altered the weights and other key measurements of the subjects, changed the length of the trial, and misstated which subjects were taking the placebo or GCA during the trial. When the lead investigator was unable to get the study published, the FTC says that AFS hired researchers Joe Vinson and Bryan Burnham at the University of Scranton to rewrite it. Despite receiving conflicting data, Vinson, Burnham, and AFS never verified the authenticity of the information used in the study, according to the complaint.
Despite the study’s flaws, AFS used it to falsely claim that GCA caused consumers to lose 17.7 pounds, 10.5 percent of body weight, and 16 percent of body fat with or without diet and exercise, in 22 weeks, the complaint alleges.
Its turns out that losing weight with green coffee extract claims were too good to be true. Or perhaps you can lose weight but the study was flawed and did not prove the claim. But, bad study and faulty claims aside, can you lose weight with organic coffee?
Coffee and Exercise
We have written about how coffee enhances athletic performance.
[D]rinking coffee increases adrenaline. Adrenaline increase heart rate and blood flow, increases blood flow specifically to the brain and helps improve short term speed and endurance. Scientifically, the caffeine in coffee is an ergogenic aid for sustaining a high degree of effort over the short term. And coffee only lasts just so long and then the body metabolizes and excretes it. Typically half of the caffeine that you ingest at 7 am is gone by 1 pm (a six hour half-life). If our hypothetical 154 pound runner drinks two cups of coffee and gets 400 milligrams into his system he will still have 200 milligrams six hours later. This is plenty of time for a slow marathon runner to complete the course or for someone to complete a soccer match.
The reason coffee enhances athletic performance is that it allows you to burn more calories faster giving you more energy. The key to losing weight is to burn calories as well. So, drink your organic coffee and go work out. It is a good way to lose weight!
Avoid Liver Stiffness by Drinking Coffee
You can help out your liver by drinking coffee, even if you drink too much alcohol or have a really bad diet. That is what a study published in the Journal of Hepatology (liver) says. Coffee and herbal tea consumption is associated with lower liver stiffness in the general population.
Coffee and tea have been proposed to limit the progression of liver fibrosis in established liver disease, but it is unknown if this is also true for subclinical fibrosis. We therefore aimed to evaluate whether coffee and tea consumption are associated with liver stiffness in the general population.
Here is the summary of their results in plain words.
Lay summary
The Rotterdam Study is a large ongoing population study of suburban inhabitants of Rotterdam in whom data on liver stiffness, as proxy for liver fibrosis, presence of fatty liver on ultrasound and detailed information on coffee and tea consumption were obtained in 2,424 participants. The consumption of herbal tea and daily consumption of three or more cups of coffee was related to the presence of lower liver stiffness, independent of a great number of other lifestyle and environmental factors. Previous studies have found a protective effect of coffee on established liver disease and we now show for the first time that this effect is already measurable in the general population.
Researchers previously knew that people with a predisposition for liver disease were helped by drinking coffee but now it turns out that the protective effect of coffee is seen in all persons. We recently wrote that the incidence of liver cancer is lower in coffee drinkers.
[R]esearchers report that drinking a cup of coffee a day was associated with a twenty percent reduction in hepatocellular carcinoma, two cups a day with a 35 percent reduction and five cups a day with a reduction of 50 percent. Even decaf drinkers had a fourteen percent risk reduction.
Is organic coffee a better choice in this regard or is it just as good to drink regular coffee? Both studies, for liver stiffness and for cancer, only looked at coffee consumption and not specifically for organic coffee drinkers. However, increased health benefits come from drinking organic coffee because organic coffee drinkers avoid the up to 150 contaminants that can be found in regular coffee. This is because organic coffee certification requires that coffee is grown without the use of herbicides, pesticides or fungicides and without the use synthetic fertilizers. Shade grown organic coffee especially is commonly grown in a totally natural environment without artificial additives to pollute your cup of coffee.
The antioxidants in coffee carry most of the benefits of drinking coffee but why challenge the good that antioxidants do by adding impurities that in and of themselves may cause disease? Our suggestion is to stick with organic coffee and get the many health benefits of coffee without the unwelcome additives that too often enter the commercial coffee food chain.
Organic Coffee for Hair
There are lots of health benefits of coffee and not all of them come from drinking a cup of java. One is the use of coffee as a natural hair dye. LAHealthyLiving.com discusses how to use coffee to dye your hair and improve hair health.
Natural methods of coloring sometimes don’t give a long lasting result (like these conventional ones), but at least they do not damage the hair and can even strengthen it. According to the National Cancer Institute there are over 5000 different chemicals used in conventional hair dyes, many of which are considered carcinogenic. Coffee is an absolutely natural product, which possesses beneficial properties.
Using this easy natural coffee mixture, you will get the desired shine, shade, and even promote hair growth. According to a study published in the January 2007 issue of the International Journal of Dermatology, coffee indeed helps with hair growth.
This is not useful for blonds or red heads but brunets can benefit from the use of organic coffee for hair coloring. You won’t get any bad extra ingredients with healthy organic coffee. And guys may even get help avoiding hair loss. The International Journal of Dermatology published an article about the effect of caffeine on hair follicle proliferation.
Caffeine was identified as a stimulator of human hair growth in vitro; a fact which may have important clinical impact in the management of AGA. [male pattern baldness]
So you can color your hair with coffee and even avoid losing more hair. But how do you do it?
Coffee Hair Dye
Make really strong organic coffee, preferably espresso. Non organic coffee most likely contains some added chemicals.
- Let your coffee cool down.
- Mix 2 cups of leave in all natural conditioner with 2 tbsp. of organic coffee grounds and 1 cup of cold brewed coffee.
- Apply the mixture onto your hair and leave it in for about an hour. It will give your hair a beautiful chocolate color without any damage.
Coffee Hair Rinse
And here are the instructions for a coffee hair rinse.
Shampoo your hair first and then pour coffee over your hair. Leave it in for 20 minutes. Use apple cider vinegar to rinse the coffee out of your hair (it will help seal in the color). Then rinse it off with warm water.
If you don’t see the desired results right away, repeat the same process for a few days in a row to allow the coffee to penetrate the strands of your hair.
The author specifies that coffee for hair coloring and for coloring via the rinse method are not meant for diseases of the scalp or hair.
Coffee for Skin Care
Bellatoy.com writes about coffee grounds as skin treatment at no cost. Just collect the coffee grounds that usually go into the garbage or disposal.
Coffee has proven to have wonderful effects on the skin. It contains powerful anti-oxidant agents, protecting the skin against free radicals and reducing the risk of skin cancer. Coffee tightens pores and removes dead skin cells, making the skin looking younger. It also displays anti-wrinkle properties.
Coffee is in many beauty products that you might purchase but using the grounds from making coffee is the free way to go. Take a look at the article for suggestions.
Organic Coffee for French Press
The best coffee is Arabica and the best of Arabica coffee is organic and comes from Colombia. But, once you have Colombian organic coffee in your home how do you make the best cup of coffee? Our suggestion is to buy and store whole bean coffee, grind what you need before preparing and use a French press.
French Press
Why use a French press to make coffee?
There are various ways to make coffee and reasons why you might prefer one over the other. In this article we consider why make French press coffee. The Life Hack web site offers six reasons why they say French press makes the best coffee.
Many people believe French press makes the best coffee. These are some reasons why.
Paper filters take out flavor and oils. When eating good foods, the flavor usually exists in the fats and oils. Paper filters in drip machines absorb much of the oil in your coffee grounds. French press doesn’t soak up flavor and adds tiny bits of coffee grounds in the coffee that percolates flavor.
French press allows for steeping. When you get a good cup of tea, you use bulk tea that steeps for several minutes depending on the type of tea. The end result is a mouth-watering cup of tea. The same is true for coffee through a French press. Because the grounds steep instead of filter, the coffee tastes better.
When you use a French press the coffee steeps just like tea. Because no filter is used you get the oils and particulate matter that contains so much of the aroma and flavor of the coffee. And the temperature of the coffee remains the same throughout the process until you pour into your coffee cup.
But if you have never used one, what is a French press?
A French press is a coffee pot, typically glass, with a fine wire mesh plunger. Coffee grounds are added to the pot followed by hot water. The coffee is allowed to steep for a few minutes and then stirred briefly. Then the plunger is pushed down through the coffee. The bulk of the grounds are pushed to the bottom of the pot.
French Press Coffee Maker
Now, how do you find good organic coffee for a French press coffee making? Buy organic coffee from Colombia and if you need help contact us for help.
Mistakes Using a French Press
The Kitchen reminds us of three common mistakes when using a French press.
Want to perfect your morning French press? Avoid these three common mistakes and you’ll be sure to get the best brew every time.
Don’t Grind the Coffee Too Much: For French press you want your beans to have a coarse, even ground.
Don’t Add Too Much Coffee: The art of the French press is in the coffee-to-water ratio, and because you’re extracting, the time is important as well. A general rule of thumb for French press coffee is in the range of 1:10 coffee-to-water ratio: that is to say, 1 gram of coffee for 10 grams of water.
Don’t Leave Coffee in the French Press: If you leave your coffee in the French press after it has finished brewing, you’re probably going to drink over-extracted, bitter coffee. That’s because even though you’ve pushed down the plunger, it will keep brewing.
You want to drink your coffee right away, so your best solution is to make the exact amount of coffee you’re going to drink.
Start with organic coffee from Colombia. Don’t grind the bean too much. And make as much as you are going to drink to avoid bitterness of coffee standing in grounds for hours on end.
Do You Need to Abstain from Coffee to Get a Performance Boost?
Sports experts have known for years that consumption of coffee (caffeine) before exercise and sports improves performance. However, the belief was that you had to knock off the coffee and probably endure headaches for a week or two before your event in order for this to work. So, do you really need to abstain from coffee to get a performance boost when you ingest caffeine before an event? An article in The New York Times tells us that you can boost your workouts even if you are a regular coffee drinker.
Caffeine users tend to become habituated to its effects, as those of us who have watched our morning consumption creep up by a cup or three can attest.
So athletes typically have been advised to quit drinking coffee or anything else that contains caffeine for most of the week before a major competition, on the theory that doing so should reduce their habituation and amplify the impacts of caffeine on the day of the event.
But Bruno Gualano, a professor of physiology and nutrition at the University of São Paulo in Brazil, was unconvinced. A recreational cyclist and committed coffee drinker – “as a good Brazilian, coffee is part of my diet,” he says – he thought it possible that athletes could benefit from taking caffeine before an event, even if they had not abstained in the days beforehand.
The coffee drinking Brazilian professor put this to the test and reported the results in the Journal of Applied Physiology. The bottom line is that both steady coffee drinkers and those who have not had a cup for some time get the same performance boost from drinking coffee before a workout.
Performance effects of acute caffeine supplementation during a roughly 30 min cycling time trial performance were not influenced by the level of habitual caffeine consumption.
Participants in the study reported how much coffee they drank and how often. Those who received caffeine before their workout did better than those who did not receive caffeine and prior consumption made no difference.
Coffee and Athletic Performance
A few years ago we looked at whether coffee enhances athletic performance and why.
We know that coffee wakes you up if you are sleepy. This is probably more important in in interactive sports like tennis, soccer, basketball, etc. where it is important to pay attention no matter how tired you are. But, how does coffee enhance athletic performance in sports like long distance running or weight lifting? Here is the Cliff Notes version.
- Via a series of chemical regulatory pathways in the human body the caffeine in coffee affects the regulation of glycogen, sugars and lipid metabolism and stimulates the release of adrenaline.
- Coffee can be effective to enhance performance when ingested as close as fifteen minutes before exercise or competition although an hour before is ideal to insure complete absorption and initiation of the regulatory pathways the help coffee enhance athletic performance.
- Coffee is effective in enhancing athletic performance in moderate amounts, three to six milligrams per kilogram of body weight and larger amounts do not appear to help.
- An eight ounce cup of brewed coffee contains from 100 to 200 milligrams of caffeine.
- A 154 pound runner weighs 70 kilograms.
- Since three milligrams per kilogram times seventy kilograms comes to just over 210 milligrams it turns out that one stiff cup of coffee taken within an hour of performance will likely enhance athletic performance.
- Two cups may be better but three will be a waste of time.
The Brazilian study confirms the fact that drinking coffee or taking a caffeine pill before sports helps increase performance. The new addition to our coffee knowledge is that you don’t have to abstain from coffee to get a performance boost.