10 Surprising Coffee Facts

Hi there! Thanks for taking time to click by today. How’re you doing? Okay? Good! Mosey on over to the coffee urn and pour yourself a big mugga... then delicately lift a virtual treat with your thumb and middle finger and place it on your plate. Say... how much do you know about your morning cup of joe? I liberated this article from ‘Care2’. Saw some interesting facts there and thought I’d pass them along. Some of these coffee facts just might surprise you!

 

Coffee is a controversial beverage. Is it healthy? Is it unhealthy? How much is too much coffee? I hope you’ll find these coffee facts interesting! There’s also a recipe for pumpkin spice latte!

1. French press coffee may raise your cholesterol.

Wait! But there’s no cholesterol or saturated fat in coffee! That’s true.  

2. Coffee may prevent depression.

A new study in The journal Molecular Endocrinology looks at how French press coffee raises cholesterol, and it definitely gave me pause when it comes to that afternoon cup!

The study found that cafestrol, a compound in coffee, interacts with your liver to raise cholesterol. The really interesting thing? Even decaf coffee contains cafestrol.

There are a couple of points that struck me about this study:

1. It’s not just French press. All coffee contains cafestrol, but paper filters get it out of your cup. Along with French press, boiled coffee and espresso drinks contained the highest levels of the compound.
2. It takes a lot of coffee. According to a related study, you’d have to drink five cups of French press coffee a day for almost a month to see a 6-8% increase in blood cholesterol levels.

So, what does this all mean for the average coffee drinker? 

What we consider “a cup” of coffee is often more than a cup, and most espresso drinks contain more than one shot of espresso, so you’d want to be keeping track not of how many mugs you’re drinking but how much coffee is in those mugs. If you’re drinking just 1-2 shots of espresso a day or 8-16oz of French press coffee (1-2 cups), you’re probably fine.

Die-hard coffee drinkers might want to take heed. Instead of espresso drinks or French press, go for drip coffee to satisfy your need for caffeine.

In a survey of over 50,000 women, researchers found that 2-4 cups of coffee per day reduced incidence of depression by 15 to 20 percent.

3. Out of creamer? You can lighten coffee with coconut milk!

It’s called Bulletproof Coffee, and if you like coconut, you are going to love this!

4. Not all coffee is vegan.

In fact civet coffee production not only involves animals but is under investigation for animal cruelty. Civets are those Indonesian animals that munch on coffee beans and ‘civet coffee’ in produced from civet droppings (scat). It is the most expensive coffee in the world!

5. Fancy coffee concoctions often contain GMOs. 

If you are trying to avoid GMOs, you may want to think twice about that pumpkin spice latte.

• pumpkin-flavoured syrup – artificial flavouring aside, there are two potential GMOs here. If the syrup is made from corn syrup, you’re looking at GMO corn. If it’s made from sugar, that sugar most likely comes from GMO sugar beets. A lose-lose.
• milk or soy milk – Starbucks doesn’t serve organic milk, so those cows most likely grew up eating GMO corn and alfalfa. I’ve seen organic soy milk at some Starbucks, but if they’re serving up conventional soy milk, it’s almost certainly made with GMO soybeans.

You might be feeling a little bit blue right now, but don’t worry – I can help! You don’t have to order a tall mug of spicy GMOs. Make your own pumpkin spice latte. It’s cheaper, healthier, and you can make it totally GMO free!

Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe makes 2 servings

Not only is this recipe GMO free, it actually includes real pumpkin, unlike most pumpkin spice latte recipes at big coffee shops.

Ingredients

• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin puree
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 cup of good, strong coffee (or two shots of espresso, if you have access to an espresso machine)
• maple syrup, to taste

Method

1. In a small saucepan, heat the first four ingredients on medium low heat, stirring constantly. You want to heat the milk and dissolve the pumpkin puree, but you don’t want it to boil. Stir until it’s heated through and there are no pumpkin lumps remaining.

2. Divide the coffee between two large mugs. Top off with the pumpkin-milk mixture, and sweeten with maple syrup to taste, if you want.

6. Coffee might prevent type 2 diabetes.

A recent study found that 2-3 cups of coffee per day could reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by as much as 25 percent.

7. We drink about 1400 million cups of coffee every day.

That’s right! Worldwide, we are consuming 1.4 billion cups of java daily.

8. It takes 130 litres (over 34 gallons) of water to produce the beans for 1 cup of coffee.

Coffee is not the most water-efficient drink, that’s for sure.

9. Coffee may protect women from endometrial cancer.

A massive survey found that coffee – decaf or regular – can reduce endometrial cancer risk by around seven to eight percent.

10. Contrary to conventional wisdom, coffee grounds are not great for your garden, even for plants that like acidic soil.

Coffee grounds are okay on your garden in moderation, but it’s easy to overdo it. Where can they be most beneficial? In your compost bin.

Well there you go. See...read my blog and learn interesting stuff!

See ya, eh!

Bob

Source: www.care2.com