Benefits of coffee drinking and roasting coffee at home

For a long time coffee got a pretty bad wrap, and doctors may have told you to cut down on it. But recently some significant positive health benefits have been uncovered that might make you want to reconsider and to go back to the good old days when you refilled your cup all day long:

According to a study conducted in Switzerland by the Nestle Research Center and recently published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, coffee has four times the antioxidant content of green tea.


Some major, long-term studies, as well as many smaller studies, have confirmed coffee's properties for preventing type 2 diabetes. A recent study at Harvard University School of Public Health found the risk of developing type 2 diabetes could be cut in half by drinking more coffee. Drinking 4 to 6 cups of coffee a day decreased the risk of diabetes by 30% to 50%, depending on age and physical condition.

Recently German researchers found that a powerful antioxidant found almost exclusively in coffee, methylpyridinium, boosts blood enzymes believed to protect against colon cancer. Methylpyridinium is formed in the roasting process from a chemical found naturally in coffee beans. The stronger the coffee, the study also found, the higher the level of the compound, with darker roasts containing two to three times more than medium roasts.

A few independent studies showed that people who drink coffee on a regular basis are 60 to 80% less likely to develop Parkinson’s Disease, and, of course, the more they drink, the lower the risk.

Coffee consumption has been also shown to reduce the risk of liver cirrhosis by 80%, to help manage asthma, control heart attacks when medication is unavailable, and, in moderation, to decrease the risk of developing acute coronary disease. Amazingly, coffe has also been found to prevent cavities, and to offset damage of smoking and heavy drinking.

Take a look at the article on Wikipedia that summs up the benefits and the risks of coffee:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_coffee

Tom DePaulis, PhD, research scientist at Vanderbilt University’s Institute for Coffee Studies says: "Overall, the research shows that coffee is far more healthful than it is harmful."

It is all over the internet that "the worst home roasted coffee is better than anything you can buy".
Coffee loses many its beneficial qualities and flavors within 3 to 7 days after roasting, so by the time the coffee reaches the store shelf or a latte stand it has degraded to bitter bland flavor and lost most of the fragile antioxidants. Different coffee beans, according to the experts, have delicate flavors reminiscent of wild berries and chocolate, but to experience such fine cup of coffee you'd have to roast your beans yourself. According to FDA lax industry standards, coffee can allow up to 30% rocks, twigs and moldy beans and still be labeled pure coffee. Sometimes the beans get so moldy, that greedy manufacturers steam clean them. To make the matters worse, many companies use coffee that is machined-picked. Obviously, when the beans are picked by the machine, they are not all ripe, and there is dirt and insects mixed in. Also, many companies have the beans sit around a very long time, which causes them to get moldy or to get so dry, that the beans would need to be steamed again, just to make them somewhat palatable. Still, all that makes for a nasty and bitter cup of coffee devoid of aroma.

Here is some convenient coffee bean roasting equipment:


Go ahead and try roasting some green coffee yourself. You'd save a ton of money as well, because organic green coffee beans are only $5/lb, where as the store coffee beans are like $9/lb. You can get organic green coffee beans from this store: Ethiopian Grocery in Seattle, WA their website also contains clear and easy roasting directions for either roasting in your oven or on the stove top.