STiR coffee and tea magazine

32 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 1, 2018 (February / March) E verything we see, taste, and feel is an intricate blend of chemicals. Like a pri- meval alphabet, they're the fundamental units that define everything in the natural order. Coffee is no exception, crafted from an unassuming green bean. For centuries viewed as a one-dimensional seed with magical properties, coffee has betrayed its rich chemical complexity to the ever-sharper tools of science. Starting with the basics, the green bean boasts over 300 different chemical com- pounds, while roasting adds another thousand or so. A litany of multisyllabic, tongue- twisting names, they sort into a shorter list of chemical classes and layperson labels – hydrocarbons, phenols, diterpenes, melanoidins . . . and antioxidants. Undoubtedly, the most well-known of them is caffeine. However, it's actually among the smallest of green coffee's constituent compounds – accounting for only 2% in arabica and 4% in robusta beans by weight. By volume, chlorogenic acids top the list, comprising up to 12% by dry weight. They are among the many compounds espoused by the popular mantra "antioxidants," neutralizing errant molecules called "free radicals" in the body, thereby creating direct links to disease prevention. More antioxidants in coffee come from a class of com- pounds known as polyphenols, which are plant-based micronutrients also found in berries, grapeseed, and pomegranate. Voluminous scientific evidence has strongly associated chlorogenic acid with both type 2 diabetes risk reduction and liver health. For diabetes, coffee seems to enhance the body's sugar uptake mechanism. What is clear is a link between consuming coffee, including decaf, and a reduced risk of developing the disease. Evidence is strong and consistent across many scientific studies, revealing a "dose response" effect – that is, the more coffee you consume, the greater the protective effect. Similarly, numerous studies have linked coffee with protection of the liver. The benefit appears to come from reducing the tissue inflammation that can spawn diseases such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, cirrhosis, and cancer. Even among those at higher medical risk, the protection obtains. Coffee has also been linked to a reduced risk of colon and rectal cancers, postu- lated to come from methylpyridinium, a strong antioxidant compound. Reduced risk has also been found for cancers of the brain, skin, prostate, mouth, breast, endome- trium, and pancreas. The science has become so clear that the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the cancer research arm of the World Health Or- ganization, gave coffee a clean bill of health. It was the first time the agency has reversed itself – revising its 25-year-old, middling ruling about coffee and cancer, which was based on refuted evidence. Caffeine, too, offers its own menu of health associations. Among them are pro- tections against early-onset cognitive decline, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's Disease. The Race to Zero: A Bean of Plenty By Joseph F. DeRupo

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