I am a late-comer to coffee – I grew up without it, and only began drinking it in the last five or six years. I started in earnest on sabbatical in Spain, with espresso, but soon realized that I preferred mightily the medium roast, slightly sweet, high altitude volcanic coffees of Guatemala, prepared either in a French press or carefully controlled drip. I now count as a coffee snob – even though, as I note each time I am in Palo Alto, the true snobs have long since moved on to teas and probably things I have not heard of yet.
As to coffee and health, I have never quite known what to think. I am easily moved to engage in selection bias, but I do credit coffee with helping me lose weight in the past few years – at bottom, a form of chemical stimulation that is not sugar. But as to the larger and longer term effects, I haven’t quite known what to think. So I was intrigued at the WSJ Personal Journal’s Melinda Beck’s useful and entertaining roundup of recent studies on the effects of coffee on health in today’s WSJ. Bottom line is cautiously favorable to coffee, with some concerns the other direction (I read it this morning out on the stoop in a pair of gym shorts and nothing else, drinking hot coffee in the mid-morning sun and lapping up the rays – but query, dear readers, is the noon sun in DC on Dec 28 sufficiently strong to produce Vitamin D in the skin? or am I simply freezing in the 30 degree weather?):
To judge by recent headlines, coffee could be the latest health-food craze, right up there with broccoli and whole-wheat bread.
But don’t think you’ll be healthier graduating from a tall to a venti just yet. While there has been a splash of positive news about coffee lately, there may still be grounds for concern.
This month alone, an analysis in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that people who drink three to four cups of java a day are 25% less likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than those who drink fewer than two cups. And a study presented at an American Association for Cancer Research meeting found that men who drink at least six cups a day have a 60% lower risk of developing advanced prostate cancer than those who didn’t drink any.
Earlier studies also linked coffee consumption with a lower risk of getting colon, mouth, throat, esophageal and endometrial cancers. People who drink coffee are also less likely to have cavities, gallstones, cirrhosis of the liver, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, or to commit suicide, studies have found. Last year, researchers at Harvard University and the University of Madrid assessed data on more than 100,000 people over 20 years and concluded that the more coffee they drank, the less likely they were to die during that period from any cause.
But those studies come on the heels of older ones showing that coffee—particularly the caffeine it contains—raises blood pressure, heart rate and levels of homocysteine, an amino acid in blood that is associated with stroke and heart disease. Pregnant women who drink two or more cups of coffee a day have a higher rate of miscarriages and lower birth-weight babies; caffeine has also been linked to benign breast lumps and bone loss in elderly women. And, as many people can attest, coffee can also aggravate anxiety, irritability, heartburn and sleeplessness, which brings its own set of problems, including a higher risk of obesity. Yet it’s just that invigorating buzz that other people love and think they can’t get through the day without.
Why is there so much confusion about something that’s so ubiquitous? After all, some 54% of American adults drink coffee regularly—an estimated 400 million cups per day…
Curt Fischer says:
I’m a coffee fan myself, so I want to point out an interesting feature of your excerpt from the WSJ: the links between coffee consumption and health benefits are much more direct than the supposed links between coffee and health problems. For example, on the plus side, the excerpt says that coffee consumption correlates to directly to lower incidences of cancer, Alzheimer’s, and suicide. But on the minus side, coffee consumption correlates to increased blood pressure, increased heart rates, and increased homocysteine. None of those outcomes are bad in themselves, they just correlate with bad outcomes, like stroke and heart disease. Has any correlative study found a direct correlation between coffee consumption and heart disease? Or stroke? If not, then I’m going to continue to drink away.
December 29, 2009, 12:45 pmDave N. says:
Given your LDS background and your statement that you are relatively new to coffee, your post reminded me of a story my father told of two adult planning meetings for the Boy Scouts held many years ago.
At the first meeting, which was almost exclusively attended by men, the host, a non-Mormon, prepared a relatively small pot of coffee for the other non-Mormons at the meeting (the LDS Church is very big on Scouting, which is one of the few activities the Church participates in with non-members).
The coffee was a big hit, including among the Mormons present, so the host decided that the next time there would be a larger pot of coffee.
At the next planning meeting, the wives were included, and the coffee went untouched by all of the Mormons present.
December 29, 2009, 12:46 pmKenneth Anderson says:
David N: Next time I talk to my brother, I’ll ask him this – he is practicing LDS – but what is the current view on coffee and caffeine in the Mormon church? When I was a kid, the view was that caffeine was prohibited, so that included caffeinated colas, etc.; but then I have sometimes been told, possibly as a form of wishful thinking by my devout (but perhaps not quite) nieces and nephews, that the current view is that coffee and tea are prohibited, not caffeine as such. So that it is not a view about caffeine as such, but a liturgical prohibition, more like keeping kosher – an act of fidelity to a tradition, or an act of piety, but not making any claim about it being good for you in a physical sense. What’s the current Mormon church view?
December 29, 2009, 12:51 pmJKB says:
You might find this article on some growing true coffee snobbery in the East Bay. I’ll probably not make it out to CA to check it out but it sounds interesting. Several shops are now doing medium and light roasts with an aim toward the real nature of the bean. Not the over-roasted coffees of Starbucks, which are fine if you want a little coffee with your milk but not so good in their pure state.
My coffee snobbery is based on small roastings, at home, of a bean from pretty much any area of the world if its traits appeal to me when I’m choosing my next couple of days coffee.
December 29, 2009, 1:01 pmA. Zarkov says:
“I now count as a coffee snob — even though, as I note each time I am in Palo Alto, the true snobs have long since moved on to teas and probably things I have not heard of yet.”
That’s right. I moved on to tea more than 20 years ago, but I have returned to coffee over the last two years. So the snobs are back. I too like the French Press, but my affections have gone over to the AeroPress. It’s inexpensive, and has virtually zero clean up effort– a big plus. But you need some strength to push the piston down. I suspect some women will complain about this, but women are always complaining about something.
I don’t take those studies about the healthful or harmful effects of coffee very seriously. Even if they were controlled (they are generally not), the sample sizes are too small to be useful.
Having returned to coffee, I’m considering returning to cigars in my quest for political uncorrectness.
December 29, 2009, 1:04 pmorca says:
I’ve been clean for a year after downing a pot a day for over 20 years.
No more headaches…no more bad breath.
It’s paradise.
December 29, 2009, 1:13 pmJay says:
Kenneth–I’m not a Mormon, but one of my law school roommates was quite devout. His view was just what you described, that coffee and tea were prohibited as “hot drinks,” but caffeinated sodas weren’t included. The impression I got, though, was that they were somewhat disfavored, as a possible reason for the scriptural prohibition on “hot drinks” was that they contained caffeine. So both my roommate and the couple of other LDS guys I knew would have a Dr Pepper or Coke every once in awhile, but seemed to look mildly askance at my tendency to drink Diet Dr P before morning classes…
December 29, 2009, 1:16 pmChrisTS says:
Oh, how terribly , terribly droll.
December 29, 2009, 1:27 pmDave N. says:
KA: I wish I could tell you the LDS Church’s position, but alas, I am not, nor have I ever been, a member of the Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
I did grow up around many Mormons in the Intermountain West, and lived a decade in Salt Lake City while attending college and law school (and where my mom was worried I would meet a nice young female of the LDS persuasion, convert, and then be married in the Temple at a ceremony she could not attend).
There is a lot I respect about the LDS Church, including its the importance it places in the family unit and its belief in self-reliance. However, since I fundamentally disagree with LDS theology, I am and always will be a very poor candidate for conversion.
December 29, 2009, 1:27 pmdearieme says:
“Why is there so much confusion..”: because such evidence as there is is largely epidemiological, and therefore poor stuff.
December 29, 2009, 1:34 pmBT says:
For my money the best mass produced cup of coffee you can get is from Dunkin Doughnuts in a ceramic cup.
December 29, 2009, 1:52 pmCrunchy Frog says:
I was a den leader when my kids were in the Cub Scouts so I would occasionally have to trudge over to the local LDS church for training and planning meetings and such. At the time (a few years ago) there would be signs all over the place outlawing coffee – you couldn’t even have it in the parking lot – but there would be cases of Coke stacked up in the building itself.
I asked one of my scouting buddies what the deal was and his reply was that the Mormon restriction on soft drinks went away coincidentally about the same time that the LDS church bought a boatload of stock in Coca-Cola.
I have no idea if it was a true statement or not.
December 29, 2009, 2:15 pmJaimeInTexas (Jam) says:
Dave N.: LOL
Reminded me of another joke: How do you make sure that you Batist friend does not drink your beer? Invite another Baptist.
I grew up drinking coffee. As child I would have a cup of coffe and milk (cafe con leche) and a slice of toast with real butter, or cheese or crackers for an afternoon snack. Very typical growing up in Puerto Rico. I did not realize that I was drinking good cofee until I came to the States and tasted mass produced, office supplied, something akin to coffee. Until then, I thought all coffee was grown on the mountainside, under the canopy of orange trees.
I have three stove-top italian percolators (when I go camping I take one with me) and an expresso machine (an inexpensive one).
Many years ago, when travelling by plane was a big thing, my grandmother (father’s side) and her sister took a trip to New Orleans. After waiting for about 45 minutes in line to buy coffee at the acclaimed Cafe DuMont, and I quote my grandmother: “Cono, all that waiting just for coffee with milk!” To hear my grandmother’s stories of her travels was to enjoy many laughs.
Cono: Put the tilde above the n. It’s equivalent in English is shit.
I know someone who toasts his own beans. I do not go that far. I may do that one of these days when I do not have gazzillion other things to worry about. Then I will homebrew too.
December 29, 2009, 2:28 pmKenneth Anderson says:
In the mass produced coffee market, I am a fan of Dunkin’ Donuts. Ditto McD.
December 29, 2009, 3:02 pmLibertarian1 says:
Ken
This is about your second point: sunshine and Vitamin D. I answer as a Dermatologist. Sun exposure to either/both UVA or UVB can be damaging. Evidence shows a correlation to developing skin cancer to sun exposure. Prolonged exposure is worse than short exposures but as I always tell my patients that while it is better to only smoke one pack of cigarettes a day rather than 2, ideally you should not smoke at all.
In addition to skin cancer UV exposure causes aging and greatly enhances my income from cosmetic procedures performed to overcome these harmful effects.
Re: vitamin D. A crucial and necessary vitamin easily obtained from food or in my personal case one oral 5000IU capsule per day. BTW, fat soluble not water soluble and therefore potentially harmful. Do not take too much.
December 29, 2009, 3:19 pmJay says:
“I asked one of my scouting buddies what the deal was and his reply was that the Mormon restriction on soft drinks went away coincidentally about the same time that the LDS church bought a boatload of stock in Coca-Cola.”
Yeah, an awful lot of LDS theological revelations (polygamy is bad, black people are ok) seem to happen at times that are rather convenient for external reasons.
December 29, 2009, 3:21 pmJaimeInTexas (Jam) says:
I have not tasted Dunkin’s cofee. I tried a McD Mocha and it was too sweet liquid chocolate.
Mass produced coffee tastes like bitter cardboard.
Try hand picked, vine-riped, shaded, mountain grown coffee one day. My mouth waters thinking about real coffee.
December 29, 2009, 3:52 pmKenneth Anderson says:
Libertarian1: Thanks for the advice – my sun exposure is very, very small. I will keep this in mind … I do the supplements but am careful to keep it down.
I’d be curious if any of our Mormon readers could explain what current Mormon church standards are on caffeine generally.
Everyone: Please chill on any anti-Mormon stuff; lapsed Mormons like me tend to be more sensitive about nastiness about it than practicing ones.
December 29, 2009, 4:26 pmKenneth Anderson says:
Jaime: I do go after the good stuff! Antigua Guatemala stuff, mostly, that my wife brings back on her frequent trips there.
December 29, 2009, 4:27 pmJaimeInTexas (Jam) says:
Ahh. I can smell the coffee aroma in my mind’s nose. Good thing I am not addicted or any such nonsense. 8O
And you say that Dunkin’s coffee is good? I will have to give at try but no Dunkins near me.
December 29, 2009, 5:13 pmCurt Fischer says:
Do you have any scientific basis for telling your patients that none is better than some?
When it comes to cigarettes, for example, I don’t think I have seen a significant study claim that smoking one cigarette per week is worse for your health than not smoking at all. I’m not an MD, and so maybe I missed some important literature. I’d love to know about it, if I did.
Similarly, when it comes to UVA and UVB, what is the minimum chronic exposure that’s been shown to be harmful to health? And is there any reason to reject the possibility that exposures under that level are, in the net, good for your health?
December 29, 2009, 5:24 pmRobert B says:
As a matter of curiosity, I just called up one of my local Mormon missionaries (I was raised that way, converted to Buddhism a decade ago, but I like the theological arguments) and asked about this: the answer I got was that it’s not the caffeine per say that’s bad, but the introduction of non-food foreign substances into the body, which is why cigarettes, alcohol, and other drugs are verboten. According to him, a caffeine free soda would be OK, as would decaf coffee (I don’t think he knows that decaf still has some caffeine).
As for where to get good coffee, it really depends on what kind you like. Cafe DuMonde is really excellent, IFF you make it as espresso or in a french press (that Aeropress looks really good, I’ll have to get one). You can probably find Cafe DuMonde at a local asian grocery store: that’s where I get mine in Phoenix, and where I used to get it in San Diego. If you ever fly to Japan, there’s also an actual Cafe DuMonde restaurant at the central train station in Kyoto (gave me a shock when I saw it). Cafe DuMonde is not for those who like a light, sweet coffee, but rather those who like a thick, heavy coffee (Greek/Persian/Thai style). As a regular brew, though, I find it slightly bitter, without the richness it has as a concentrate. For a grocery store comparison: see Folgers Black Silk as a similar type of coffee.
For a lighter coffee, I import from Kona, Hawaii when I have friends who go, it’s worth increased price. Any of the full Kona blends are fine, just be sure not to get a regular main-land store variety, as they are usually ~10% mixes.
December 29, 2009, 6:27 pmTweets that mention The Volokh Conspiracy » Blog Archive » Coffee -- Topsy.com says:
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Coffee Makers and XCLUBCAFE, Eugene Volokh. Eugene Volokh said: Coffee: I am a late-comer to coffee — I grew up without it, and only began drinking it in the last five or six .. http://bit.ly/72mij7 [...]
December 29, 2009, 6:34 pmArthurKirkland says:
I have no familiarity with the issue of coffee’s healthfulness, but I am aware that evidence indicates that drinking one or two beers (or glasses of wine, and probably sensible servings of spirits) is associated with a longer and more healthy life than are abstinence or overconsumption. One of the best ways (pun intended) to reduce medical expenditures in the United States would be to arrange for every adult (including 18-year-olds, if smarter heads prevailed) to consume one or two drinks a day.
This is one of the reasons regulation of alcohol should (and, in general, does) differ from regulation of tobacco. It also is a reason lumping alcohol with “other dangerous drugs” in school curricula is wrong-headed.
I expect to learn someday that research has established that drinking two cups of coffee or tea before dinner, drinking two glasses of beer with or after dinning, and ingesting one non-smoke-delivered dose of marijuana during the evening is the ticket to a long, fit and fun life.
Maybe I should try coffee. My aggregate consumption would not fill the average coffee mug. I also don’t drink as much beer as I should and haven’t used marijuana in 25 years. In other words, I am among the many Americans who do not take care of themselves. Were I overweight, I’d probably be dead already.
Is Dunkin Donuts really the place to go for a good cup of coffee? That strikes me as akin to saying that Arby’s or McDonald’s is the best spot for a sandwich, but I am willing to accept the recommendation if someone assures me it isn’t an inside-coffee joke.
December 29, 2009, 7:02 pmArthurKirkland says:
Dogma that teaches that beer is not good food is especially bad dogma.
December 29, 2009, 7:04 pmjcm says:
Public transport drivers in Southamerica drink hot ( at boiling point) coffee when the temperature is very high, 95 or hotter. That help them to refresh themselves.
December 29, 2009, 7:39 pmBT says:
Arthur, I am no expert on coffee but I like it and drink it several times per week. As for Dunkin Donuts, as I am the one who brought it up, I figured I would answer your question. I like their coffee, especially if you can get it inside the shop and in a ceramic cup. (A friend of mine from Sweden proved to me that coffee tastes better in a mug than in a paper cup). They used to serve it that way as they had sit down counters. I don’t know if that still is the case. Anyway, for a commercially produced product, as compared to McD’s or you local diner, it is pretty good. Granted, your milage may vary. Enjoy.
December 29, 2009, 7:54 pmdrobviousso says:
It’s easy to be a low level coffee snob. The difference between a mug of mass produced pre-ground and a fresh ground, recently roasted is great, but it doesn’t cost much more or take much more effort.
I’m not associated with them in any way, other than being a reliable customer, but CoffeeAM’s Guatemalla Antigua is quite good, inexpensive, and fits the description in the OP, if anyone is interested in trying it. Link is in my name
December 29, 2009, 8:00 pmChrisTS says:
I realize that supplements can be very useful. However, we did evolve to use sun exposure to promote D development. Would anyone really recommend that humans live in the dark and take supplements?
December 29, 2009, 8:14 pmArthurKirkland says:
BT
I shall try a Dunkin Donuts coffee. Would pouring the coffee from the chain’s cup into a ceramic mug work, or does the paper/styrofoam adulterate the coffee?
December 29, 2009, 8:26 pmdrobviousso says:
Arthur – The point is to keep the paper out of your mouth, not getting paper into the coffee. Same effect with wine.
December 29, 2009, 9:11 pmArthurKirkland says:
Thanks for the tip. I will pack a mug and head toward a Dunkin Donuts. Here is the accumulated wisdom of people who now beer:
In general, drink beer from nonreturnable, dark-glass bottles with non-twist-off crowns, poured into a clean glass. The exception is Guinness Stout, which is probably better from widgetized cans in the United States and even better from a tap in Ireland.
December 29, 2009, 10:50 pmRandy says:
As they say, Guinness gets better the closer you get to its source, and I find that’s true.
I drink coffee, but my real passion is tea. The health benefits of tea are many and varied, and much more so than coffee. Plus, there is a tremendous variety of tea that seems (to me, at least) much more interesting than the varieties of coffee. Green tea is especially loaded with anti-oxidants, and has a very mild caffeine content, meaning you can drink it all day long, which the Chinese do.
As for the Mormons, I know quite a few, and most have no problem drinking soda, even if it contains caffeine. I haven’t been bold enough to ask them why they can drink that but not coffee, so I have no answers. I guess it’s like eating meat on Friday if you are catholic.
December 29, 2009, 11:26 pmtheobromophile says:
I would love to drink more coffee, but it exacerbates my Raynaud’s. :(
December 30, 2009, 2:17 amtheobromophile says:
Randy and I agree on something!
December 30, 2009, 2:26 amCurt Fischer says:
Yes! As in, I hope no one would recommend that humans live in the dark, so yes I agree you’re asking an important question. It’s almost like somewhere between daily trips to the tanning salon, and living 24/7 in a deep subterranean cave, there might be a middle ground that’s actually good for us. I honestly wish I knew what the best level of UVA and UVB exposure for optimal health was.
p.s. hormesis.
December 30, 2009, 2:56 amMark Field says:
Any caffeine exacerbates mine. I drink it anyway.
December 30, 2009, 10:45 amMichael F. Martin says:
If you want the best coffee in the bay area, then you have to try Barefoot Coffee Roasters next time you’re in town. The places in Palo Alto (especially del Dogge) are fine. But Barefoot is the best. Sorry Blue Bottle.
December 30, 2009, 6:40 pmTimothy Knox says:
In my opinion, you can’t really count yourself a “coffee snob” until you are roasting your own. My wife and I became home roasters about four years ago, and it has made quite a difference. I can now bore the life out of anyone who will stay in place long enough about the differences between East African and West African coffees, why I’m not crazy about Sumatrans (low acidity) and so on. ;-) If you are ever ready to take your coffee snobbery to the next level, I heartily recommend Sweet
January 4, 2010, 2:32 pmMaria’s as the primo place to buy your greens. (Non-)Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with them in any way, other than being a long-time satisfied customer.
Kate says:
I can’t believe McDonald’s is trying to sell “gourmet” coffee. Who the hell is going to go to a cheap fast food restaruant for a mocha?
March 13, 2010, 8:18 amDave says:
Glad to see you finally did jump on the coffee band wagon, and have since expanded your reach to consider yourself a “coffee snob”. It is good to see over the last few years that there is positive research coming out about the effect of coffee on your health. Of course this is all in the name of moderation, but for those of us who live off java, it’s great news. Keep on exploring your coffee side!
March 23, 2010, 10:41 am