Does Coffee Increase Cholesterol?
Cholesterol is the fatty substance produced by the liver that plays a vital role in your body. It is essential to make the hormones like estrogen and testosterone and also it is required to convert sunlight to vitamin D in your body.
However, your body can produce the cholesterol needed and you will also get it from the food you eat.
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Is Coffee Essential In Your Daily Life? 2023 Updated!
Thus when the intake of cholesterol is high, it will put your cardiovascular system in danger by causing heart attacks and strokes.
We know that many food products lead to an increase in cholesterol in your body. Is coffee one among them? Let us know through this article.
Coffee And Cholesterol
Coffee is a necessary beverage in our daily lives. It is not possible to imagine a life without coffee. It is required to improve your creativity, ease your tensions and depression, keep your mind fresh and the list goes on.
Literally coffee does not contain cholesterol but it can control the production of cholesterol in your body.
It is not the caffeine in coffee that raises the cholesterol but the two natural oils present in the coffee beans, cafestol and kahweol (together known as diterpenes), are capable of increasing the cholesterol level in your body.
It prevents decomposition of the cholesterol and as a result, it will clump together and clog your arteries.
Benefits Of Coffee
However, there are several benefits to drinking coffee
- Decreases the risk of Parkinson’s disorder, Alzheimer’s, and type 2 diabetes.
- Protects cell damage due to high levels of antioxidants.
- Increases energy.
- Supports weight loss.
- Improves mental focus
- Elevates mood
- Protects against depression
Factors That Affect Cholesterol
There are mainly two factors that affect cholesterol. They are:
- Amount of coffee you drink
The amount of coffee you drink greatly affects the cholesterol level in your body. Drinking 2-4 cups of coffee per day is considered to be a moderate amount of consumption and does not cause any risk to the cardiovascular system. But more than 4 cups per day will raise the cholesterol level in your body and leads to the chances of heart attacks, strokes, etc. If you have a family history of cholesterol you are supposed to limit your coffee consumption to 2 or below per day.
- How the coffee is brewed
Even though there are many types of coffees, they are prepared in either two ways, filtered or unfiltered. The type of preparation will affect the number of diterpenes in the coffee thus affecting the level of cholesterol. If the coffee powder has the most extended contact with water during brewing, it will contain more diterpenes leading to a rise in cholesterol. Otherwise, it will contain fewer diterpenes. The different brewing styles are:
- Instant and drip-brewed coffee
In an instant and drip-brewed coffee, the paper filter retains the diterpenes and most of the cafestol remains in the filter. And this type of coffee contains a negligible amount of cafestol and it does not cause a rise in cholesterol. So the moderate consumption of drip-brewed coffee does not increase your cholesterol level.
- French press and Turkish coffee
In french press coffee and Turkish coffee, the grounds do not pass through the filter and the hot water has the longest contact with the ground. And this type of coffee contains a greater concentration of diterpenes and it leads to an increase in cholesterol levels. This type of unfiltered coffee contains almost 5mg of cholesterol per cup.
- Espresso
In espresso, the coffee ground has direct contact with hot water, and the diterpenes remain in the coffee, affecting your cholesterol level. But this type of coffee contains half the amount of diterpenes found in unfiltered coffee. Its cafestol content comes in the middle of that of paper-filtered coffee and unfiltered coffee. It contains about 1mg of cholesterol in a cup. So a little consumption of espresso will have little effect on cholesterol in your body.
- Filtered coffee
Filtered coffee, where the brewing is done in an American-style coffee pot, contains a comparatively low amount of cafestol because the hot water passes through the ground only once. Here most of the diterpenes remain in the filter of the pot. So it can be consumed moderately.
Conclusion
Here we conclude, does coffee increase cholesterol. In short, if you are concerned about the cholesterol level in your body you don’t have to completely cut out coffee from your routine, you just need to change the coffee brewing style. Drip-brewed coffee and filtered coffee do not have a major effect on the cholesterol level and you can have them daily.
However, you can enjoy french press coffee, Turkish coffee, and espresso in moderate amounts. Also keep in mind the amount of extra added sugar, cream, and flavored syrup to the coffee. Moreover, health is wealth and you have to control some of your desires to maintain your health.
