Which Coffees are Highest in Antioxidants?


As researchers learn more about antioxidants with health and disease, they increasingly find themselves drawn to their influence on overall health. With them becoming an ever larger realm of study, people are looking for new ways to obtain high levels for them to be beneficial.

Since coffees are one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world, it was natural for researchers to test coffee.

Surprisingly, they found that some coffees have extremely high levels. The Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Pavia in Pavia, Italy, studied the antioxidants present in the green and dark roasted coffees Coffee Arabica and Coffee robusta.

They found that all of the studied coffees showed a strong presence of them and also antiradical activity.

There was no difference found between the green and dark roasted coffee, indicating that the roasting process did not damage the natural presence in the coffee beans.

The School of Food Bio Sciences at The University of Reading, Whiteknights in Reading, United Kingdom looked at the effects of roasting coffee and if that negatively affects the presence of it in the bean.

They studied Colombian Arabica coffee that was roasted to light, medium, and dark roast. The researchers found that the maximum detioxification activity was found in the medium roasted coffee.

This was in contrast to the previously held belief that dark roasts were higher in antioxidative content due to their darker color.

When the Nestle Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, studied the activity in caffeinated beverages, they were particularly interested in seeing what kind of levels were present in coffees and other beverages when served at standard conditions. The amounts were found to be higher in coffee than in cocoa or tea.

They found that the addition of milk to the coffee, as taken by many people worldwide, did not alter the activity of the antioxidant. The researchers also looked into the link between the type of beans for the coffee and the degree of roasting to see if either had any influence on the activity of the ratio.

They found that Robusta coffees that were served green had twice the level of antioxidants than Arabica coffees.

However, beyond this difference, the roasting of the coffee had little significant influence on the antioxidants.

Investigating brewed coffees to assess the benefit in levels was the key to a recent study done at the Department of Environmental Toxicology at the University of California in Davis, Calfornia.

Even after sitting for fifteen and thirty days, the brewed coffees exhibited exceptionally high levels.

This research suggests that drinking coffee may inhibit diseases caused by oxidative disorders. Finally, a study done by several different researchers at the University of Oslo in Norway, and the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, analyzed the antioxidants found in many common foods, including coffees, fruits, tea, wine, cereals, and vegetables.

The researchers surprisingly found that the levels were higher in coffee than any of the other foods, suggesting that drinking coffee was just as important to increasing the intake as eating properly.

In looking at antioxidants in coffee, it's important to remember that the consumer must like the flavoring of the coffee in order to drink enough coffee to reap the most benefit.

While some studies have shown different levels in different types of beans and roasts, others have found little significance in these areas. The most important thing is to drink the coffee in order to benefit as much as possible.

© Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved.

You can find more articles on coffee such as Starbucks Coffee Company, Coffee Beans and Coffee Colonics.







Related News



Care for a coffee? - Telegraph.co.uk

Care for a coffee?
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom -18 hours ago
In the coffee wars, statistics are the first casualty. Are there solid grounds to think coffee shops are being deserted in favour of domestic ...

New coffee shop robbed - Lee's Summit Journal

New coffee shop robbed
Lee's Summit Journal, MO -5 hours ago
By Brett Dalton, The Journal Staff Sisters Jesi DeMeire and Erin Parks work to prepare tasty beverages at their new coffee shop, the Lee’s Summit Coffee Co. ...
Coffee shop burglarized hours before grand openingJefferson City News Tribune
all 2 news articles

Brazil to Offer Coffee Subsidies of Up to 300 Million Reais - Bloomberg

Brazil to Offer Coffee Subsidies of Up to 300 Million Reais
Bloomberg -22 hours ago
4 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil, the world's biggest coffee producer, will probably spend 300 million reais ($175 million) to support prices for growers this year. ...

Coffee Break: Governor to speak at Tenn. Air National Guard base ... - Memphis Commercial Appeal

Coffee Break: Governor to speak at Tenn. Air National Guard base ...
Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN -12 hours ago
Gov. Phil Bredesen will be keynote speaker for dedication of a $245 million Tennessee Air National Guard base, the largest Air National Guard project in ...

Colombian soldiers forced 'drug smuggling' Tory to eat coffee whitener - guardian.co.uk

Times Online

Colombian soldiers forced 'drug smuggling' Tory to eat coffee whitener
guardian.co.uk, UK -2 hours ago
A Tory MP today revealed that he was forced to eat coffee whitener by Colombian soldiers who suspected him of drug smuggling. Michael Fabricant, the MP for ...
MP's gunpoint Coffee Mate ordealBBC News
Coffee-loving MP Michael Fabricant mistaken for cocaine traffickerTimes Online
Tory MP Michael Fabricant forced to eat coffee whitener at gunpointTelegraph.co.uk
Reuters UK - Daily Mail
all 35 news articles

Open Coffee - Nature.com (subscription)

Open Coffee
Nature.com (subscription), UK -8 hours ago
Bob et al. showing the way to Open Coffee research at the Library, Royal Institution, London. How far I will be able to take it will depend on the ...


Morning Coffee: Ball State's season begins tonight - ESPN

Morning Coffee: Ball State's season begins tonight
ESPN -1 hour ago
Ball State will host Navy Friday night in what Greg Fallon of the Muncie Star Press is calling the opening of the Cardinals' season. ...

"The Various Flavors of Coffee": Coffee serves as eye-opener in ... - Seattle Times

"The Various Flavors of Coffee": Coffee serves as eye-opener in ...
Seattle Times, United States -9 hours ago
Anthony Capella's new novel "The Various Flavors of Coffee" is set in London and Africa of the 1890s, when the international coffee trade was a gateway to ...

Coffee prices rise even as dollar advances - Forbes

Coffee prices rise even as dollar advances
Forbes, NY -21 hours ago
AP 09.04.08, 3:36 PM ET Coffee futures rose Thursday, despite the dollar's continued rebound against currencies such as the euro and the British pound. ...
Coffee prices fall as dollar reboundsForbes
all 4 news articles

Community Coffee's Louisiana Plant Still Shut, Awaiting Pwr - CNNMoney.com

Community Coffee's Louisiana Plant Still Shut, Awaiting Pwr
CNNMoney.com -16 hours ago
Community Coffee Company's roasting plant in Port Allen, Louisiana , remains without power after Hurricane Gustav struck the state Monday, the Baton Rouge ...
Video: Gustav Evacuees Make DoCBS
all 1,080 news articles