It’s Official, Hot Coffee Is Healthier than Cold Coffee

There are many benefits of drinking coffee regularly, and thankfully one finds many opportunities to consume coffee on a daily basis. For those of you who don’t know, coffee is a very popular brewed drink made from coffee beans. It is slightly acidic in nature and served in both hot and cold forms. Generally, hot coffee is the more preferred form compared to cold coffee because of its stronger taste and smoother texture.

The method of preparation creates a major difference in the taste of coffee as well as its nutritional properties. While hot coffee may be preferred because of its taste, coffee drinkers can now rejoice as, according to recent studies, hot coffee holds more health benefits as compared to cold coffee.

There are many benefits of drinking coffee regularly, and thankfully one finds many opportunities to consume coffee on a daily basis

Preparing Coffee the Healthy Way

Hot coffee and cold coffee are generally considered to have, more or less, the same amount of caffeine content in them, however that is not true. There is 40 mg of caffeine per 100 grams of brewed coffee. In espresso, there are other essential nutrients present as well because suspended solids are present in higher amounts, and as far as its caffeine content goes, 100 grams of espresso contains 212 mg of caffeine. Espresso also contains other nutrients like magnesium, niacin, Vitamin B and riboflavin.

Cold coffee, on the other hand, which is usually served in the form of iced coffee, is although a very refreshing drink during peak temperatures, but much of the potency of coffee is diluted during its preparation process. The chemical profile of cold coffee differs from hot coffee only when coffee grounds undergo the steeping process, whereby ground coffee is soaked in cold water for a long period of time. These coffee grounds are then filtered using filter paper and you get what is called a coffee concentrate, a diluted version of coffee which is also less acidic in nature. Caffeine content is also reduced in this steeping process.

Hot coffee and cold coffee are generally considered to have, more or less, the same amount of caffeine content in them, however that is not true

The Benefits of Coffee

According to the Public Health department of Harvard T.H Chan School, hot coffee has more antioxidants than cold coffee. Coffee has 6 antioxidants in total, and hot coffee contains all 6 of them. Everyone wants to have a good cup of coffee which is satisfying to the taste buds, but very few know that coffee contains antioxidants which support many vital processes of your body.

Antioxidants are necessary so the level of toxins in our body do not build up, which otherwise lead to conditions such as heart problems, cancer, metabolic disorders like diabetes and premature ageing. Anti-oxidants help in fighting off these disorders by ridding the body of free radicals, effectively reducing the toxicity levels in the body.

Coffee is often associated with negative health consequences because of its highly-acidic nature. Drinking too much coffee may upset your gastrointestinal system, according to research; however make sure you take advantage of all the benefits present in coffee, such as anti-oxidants, by consuming it in moderate amounts. Research recommends around 5-6 cups of hot coffee daily, as it will fulfil 60% of your daily requirement of anti-oxidants. Consuming coffee more than this moderate amount could in itself be very toxic to the body because of high caffeine content in present in coffee.

Antioxidants are necessary so the level of toxins in our body do not build up, as they otherwise lead to medical conditions

It’s All About Those Anti-Oxidants

There are more anti-oxidants in roasted coffee beans compared to coffee beans which are prepared without any roasting. The method of preparation matters, as mentioned above as well. The 6 antioxidants present in coffee are cafestol, chlorogenic acid, quinine, melanoidins, caffeine and trigonelline.

Each of these anti-oxidants is highly beneficial for our health. For example, Cafestol is anti-inflammatory in nature and improves the memory of brain, and trigonelline is anti-bacterial in nature and helps in preventing tooth decay. The aroma of roasted coffee beans is due to the presence of melanoidins. These nitrogenous compounds are both anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory in nature. And Quinine is helpful in preventing diseases like malaria.

All of these are anti-oxidants which are more potent when coffee beans are roasted and used in preparing hot coffee, as although cold coffee also contains antioxidants, but these are relatively in lower amounts because of change in chemical profile.