Why You Might Want To Stop Drinking French Press Coffee
Coffee is a definite necessity for many people: grinding the beans, smelling its rich aroma, and plainly sipping the warm robust liquid all contribute to the full ritualistic experience for many java drinkers. Whatever type of coffee you choose, whether it be a latte or a standard cup of drip, you can finally rest assured that drinking one or two cups a day won't harm your health.
According to a 1994 study, regular coffee drinkers aren't hurting their cardiovascular health by indulging in the brew and apart from the benefits of moderate coffee drinking which can decrease your chances of prostate and liver cancer, new research in the Annals of Internal Medicine also suggests coffee can actually increase your lifespan (per USA Today).
While coffee has a wide range of health benefits (per the New York Times), there is one element to this daily habit that may change coffee's health properties. Researchers recently weighed in on the importance of how you prepare that morning cup of joe and the comments are quite eye-opening.
How unfiltered coffee may be harming your health
Whether or not French press coffee is superior to drip is a contentious debate among habitual drinkers. If you consider yourself a coffee connoisseur, there are many reasons why you should brew coffee in a French press. Truth be told, most coffee bloggers agree the flavor of French press coffee is superior to drip, but there may be more to the filterless method that's worth additional consideration.
Recently, some experts queried by HuffPost detailed how the fatty substance encasing coffee beans known as diterpenes can increase your body's bad cholesterol (LDL). Cafestol concentration, which is a type of diterpene, "is 300 times greater" in French press coffee than the filtered varieties according to cardiologist Robert Fishberg.
Experts' advice to stick to filtered coffee is based on the findings of a 2022 study revealing that drinking unfiltered coffee (three to five daily cups) increased the body's LDL cholesterol based on the level of diterpenes in each method of brewing.
While a previous study in "Food Research International" in 2012 already confirmed cafestol concentration was higher in plunge brew methods, more research needs to be conducted in order to understand the other factors that may be contributing to the 2022 study's participants' high levels of LDL cholesterol. For now, unless you're drinking five or more unfiltered cups of coffee per day, you're safe to enjoy that daily brew whichever way you prefer.