I used to think coffee was unhealthy because of the chemicals, sugar, caffeine, and coffee enhancers people add to it. I know now that I was right…. about most of it, and dead wrong about some things.

It was fine with me thinking it was unhealthy, I didn’t drink it. Then, a few years ago my husband started his own business and was working from home. He kept asking for coffee (he used to get it at his work)! So, we bought a coffee maker and I still had no desire for it. I thought it tasted like the instant coffee that my relatives drank.

We also have friends that are hardcore coffee drinkers. They get their beans whole and grind them fresh each time for their cups of java. While at their house I decided to finally try a cup and MUCH to my shock I enjoyed it.

The coffee I enjoyed was made with freshly ground beans, and loaded with sugar and cream. So, the sugar part wasn’t so great, but the cream was organic fresh cream (you know, the kind you skim off the top of a gallon jar). I think the key was freshly grinding the beans and drinking it right away. You know how most wheat bread is kind of gross? It’s because the ground flour goes rancid (the oils go bad). But man oh man, when you freshly grind those wheat berries and make cookies, muffins or bread – the difference is incredible – so yummy!

Wheat is healthy right? Wheat berries that are ground, stripped, chemically process, and stored are not healthy. The same is true for coffee beans (or berries). Those that are grown and picked without chemical processes, then roasted properly (without cheaper, chemical forms) and then ground before drinking are a whole different ball game than the heavily processed boxes you find at the grocery store.

Then there are all the additives that people buy to put in their java. White sugar is a no no. Ultra homogenized and pasteurized cream is also something that is not healthy. And here’s the worst one of all, the popular Coffee Mate with these ingredients: partially hydrogenated soybean oil, sugar, dipotassium phosphate, sodium tripolyphosphate, sodium stearoly lactylate, polysorbate 50, gellan gum, sodium citrate, natural and artificial flavor, and beta-carotene color. Yuck!

But, what if you used honey, sucanat, raw sugar, a stevia sweetener, or no sweetener at all, then added a dollop of fresh, organic cream? My oh my, it’s the health difference of store bought white bread (with a million bad ingredients) and homemade freshly ground wheat bread.

There are also issues about coffee that make it unhealthy like some of the decaffeination process’. The most popular (and cheapest) method is the use of chemical solvents.  The process is usually performed on unroasted (green) beans, and starts with steaming of the beans. They are then rinsed with a solvent that extracts the caffeine while leaving the other essential chemicals in the coffee beans. The process is repeated anywhere from 8 to 12 times until it meets either the international standard of having removed 97% of the caffeine in the beans or the EU standard of having the beans 99.9% caffeine-free by mass.EU standard of having the beans 99.9% caffeine-free by mass. Coffee contains over 400 chemicals important to the taste and aroma of the final drink; it is, therefore, challenging to remove only caffeine while leaving the other chemicals at their original concentrations. Wikipedia

But some coffees are not decaffeinated that way, a complicated soaking process is used that is free of chemicals. 99.9% of the caffeine is said to be removed and you don’t have the chemical residue. Sounds like a better option doesn’t it?

Now onto the health benefits of coffee – which I found the most surprising! Coffee has extremely high levels of antioxidants, and is connected in the prevention of all sorts of diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Colon Cancers. I read this article from Web MD and was pretty impressed with all the listed benefits.

I still have one question about coffee that maybe you can help me with. There is a connection with inflammation and the use of coffee. Do you think its in connection to the healthier chemical free coffees? Or to the highly processed stuff? Or is it the coffee bean itself?

If you enjoy coffee and would like a place to buy the kind of healthy coffee I wrote about, try Cane Creek Coffee. It’s the only homebrewed coffee I’ve ever enjoyed and it’s natural, free of chemicals, and roasted the old fashioned way. You can even get a free sample – No Strings Attached. Tell ‘em I sent you!

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