L.Rubiaceae, Common, Arabian
Eaten raw by Middle Eastern natives, coffee beans, called or likened to cherries, were eaten for a stimulant for many centuries.
caffeine,volatile oils,glyoxal,methylglyoxal, N. methyl pyridinium, hydrogen peroxide, colouring matter,tannin,(antioxidants from roast) melanoidin and chlorogenic acids (CGA),(antioxidants from green non-roasted)diterpenes kafestol, and kahweol palmitates,Maillard reaction products (MRPs), traces of theobromine and its isomer,theophylline,woody fibre, ash, citric acid, glucosids forming grape sugar.
Stimulant, diuretic, beverage, flavouring, cuisine,
confectionery,liqueur,spasmodic asthmatic seizures, chemoprotection, antigenotoxic, ergogenic, possible inhibitor of anahylactic shock, enhances recovery post-surgery, reduces the hypnotic effect of alcohol, offers a certain amount of radio protection,
for opium
narcosis,renal torpor, cardiac insufficiency,unpleasant sense of fullness in the
head and drowsiness after eating,migraine, with cerebral
hyperemia; constipation, from gastric atony, when not due to excessive use
of coffee.
Antigenotoxicity, Antioxidant, An infusion of roasted coffee is an agreeable stimulant,
anti-soporific, and anti-emetic.
Coffee slightly accelerates the circulation; taken too freely, it impairs the nervous and digestive systems (usually only for people suffering from reflux). The nervous symptoms are usually irritability, dejected spirits, weakness, trembling, watchfulness, mental confusion, headache, dizziness, and ringing noises in the ears; the gastric effects are flatulence, acidity, pyrosis, and bitter and sourish eructations, as well as disorders of the bowels.
There are always pros and cons to the use of any substance, however nearly all of the sanctions and fears with regard to the caffeine content in coffee, or its addictivity have been studied more recently, resulting in discoveries that will let coffee improve your health.
p. 10.4.1.3, Coffee Benefits
Caffeine has minimal impact on other organs and no gastric distress (heartburn) has been found in association with use except for those with reflux.
p. 12 Boiled and non-filtered coffee:
Coffee helps you to stay slim for a number of reasons, but there is one exception!
The coffee diterpene cafestol has been shown to raise serum total cholesterol, if people drink very mild roast, boiled, non-filtered coffee.
Fear not, consumption of moderate quantities of either espresso or Moka type brews has no effect on total cholesterol, because the roasting creates elements that do not exist for milder roasts.
(Espresso is roast to carbonara stage or slightly less, therefore much of the caffeine has been roasted away)
p 13 online:
"Acceleration in bone loss at the spine in elderly postmenopausal women consuming more than 300 mg of caffeine per day has been recently reported (Rapuri et al., 2001). Losses can be overcome by daily milk intakes (Barrett-Connor et al., 1994)."
"...Currently available evidence suggests that it may be prudent for pregnant women to limit coffee consumption to 3 cups/d providing no more than 300 mg/d of caffeine to exclude any increased probability of spontaneous abortion or impaired fetal growth."
"Some doctors have found that delayed food allergies may be responsible for autoimmune disease. The commonest of these are dairy products, wheat, gluten, chocolate, and stimulants like coffee, tea, cigarette smoke, nicotine gums or patches, and caffeinated soft drinks."
SOURCE: Vitality Magazine
SOURCE: Scholarly Articles: (Taylor and Francis Online)
Abstracted from a written work: EXCERPT FROM THE DRAFT OF: Espresso Coffee The Science of Quality,Second edition. Edited by ANDREA ILLY and RINANTONIO VIANI with the assistance of Furio Suggi Liverani
See Reference Linked below for a very comprehensive page on coffee.
http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed/eclectic/kings/caffea.html
(archived) Coffee For the Holidays