“Coffee, Caffeine and Me…”

Caffeine is best known for its stimulating effects. It keeps people awake during stressful times, and keeps the body and mind active. Caffeine is most commonly found in coffee, a refreshing beverage that is the product of brewing of the coffee plant’s berries. There are actually two species of coffee plants that are mainly consumed, the C. robusta and C. arabica. C. robusta, from its namesake, is a thriving plant that is highly resistant to diseases as well as heat. C. arabica, the much more expensive variety, on the other hand grows at temperate climate and requires considerable care. Despite C. arabica having a more enticing aroma, C. robusta has a higher caffeine yield.

A little bit of history, coffee was first discovered in 850 when an Ethiopian goatherd noted how his flock suddenly became agitated and energetic after nibbling on the berries of the coffee plant. After trying for himself, the Ethiopian himself felt energized and excited, thus discovering coffee as a stimulant. The Arabs were the first to learn of the brewing process by boiling dried coffee berries and called the brew as qahwe. The beverage (and term) eventually spread in the Middle East to Turkey, them calling it as kahve and then to Europe specifically in France, where the term café soon flourished.

   

Coffee came to Asia and the Americas during the European Colonization Era, where European powers such as the Dutch, French, Portuguese and Spanish used the colonies of Java, Sri Lanka, the Caribbean, Brazil and the Philippines as plantations for the plant. In the Philippines particularly, coffee production made such a good business that until now the provinces of Batangas and Cavite still consider coffee production as their major industry.

Coffee aroma and intensity very much depends on the way the coffee berries were roasted, particularly with the temperature as well as time. From a mere 250 volatile organic compounds from green coffee, roasted coffee beans contain more than 800 volatile organic compounds, 400 of which affect the coffee’s taste and aroma.

Instant coffee is quite different as compared to normal brewed coffee. Instead of getting simply the liquid brew from the roasted coffee beans, instant coffee actually involves freeze-drying of the extract to remove water content and what’s left are solid granules that you eventually dissolve in your cup to make coffee. In essence, the caffeine content should simply be the same (but occurs otherwise). The only thing that’ll make the difference in the drinking experience would probably be the aroma.

What about coffee without the caffeine? If you think about it, decaffeinated coffee essentially comes from the same roasted coffee beans; it’s just that it goes through a pre-extraction step before the brewing part. One of the procedures previously developed was the use of methylene chloride or ethyl acetate (yes, dangerous organic compounds) in combination with water extraction to remove caffeine. Another decaffeination method that was developed was actually the recycling of used coffee grounds. It involved the use of the coffee oils rich in triglycerides to remove the caffeine. In more recent times, thanks to technology, decaffeination now is much safer, with the use of simply water, CO₂ and high pressure. It is important to note that decaffeinated coffee should essentially smell and taste like normal coffee as the decaffeination process involved “supposedly” only removes caffeine.

As for the science behind Espresso, it simply uses high pressure and water against finely grounded coffee beans in order to extract out the organic compounds that make up the nice aroma of coffee. One should take note that some of the compounds being extracted from coffee are actually undesirable when done improperly. It’s interesting, however, that it seems the aroma produced by espresso is actually a combination of different aromas. It’s as if you’re drinking a cocktail with the aromas of chocolate, tea and cinnamon.

It is said that drinking coffee regularly helps improve overall health due to the presence of “anti-oxidants.” This is due largely to the fact that coffee, like tea and chocolate, contain catechins that are responsible for the anti-oxidative effects. What’s ironic however is that both coffee and tea only contain negligible amounts of these anti-oxidants as compared to dark chocolate. Despite coffee coming off from a berry, the various chemical changes that undergo due to roasting changes and probably destroy those catechins that provide its anti-oxidative properties.

Too bad for its anti-oxidative properties… but on the bright side, caffeine does have some upsides. Medically, caffeine has been used as a CNS, respiratory and cardiac stimulant. Ironically, when one has too much of it there are some side-effects (as with taking too much of anything). Even if the toxicity level is above 10g, having a dose of more than 250mg (at least 3 cups of coffee) can cause insomnia, irritability, nervousness, hyperthermia and headache, not to mention cardiac irregularities as well. Like any other food, moderation is key to maximizing the health benefits of certain types of foods.

Did you know?

·      Decaffeinated coffees still have caffeine, but only in small amounts (2 – 10mg/cup; average brewed coffee has 100 – 250mg/cup)

·      Tea has comparable amounts of caffeine (50 – 150mg/cup) to brewed coffee and has actually more caffeine content than instant coffee on average (50 – 90mg/cup)

·      A 12oz can of cola has about half the caffeine content of a cup of instant coffee

·      The Philippines used to be among the top 4 largest coffee producing countries in the world

·      Tea may be the most consumed beverage in the world, but coffee is the most widely traded

·      Cavite and not Batangas is the unofficial coffee plantation capital of the Philippines

·      For a beverage to be considered caffeine-free, international standard only requires upto 97% removal of caffeine (beware decaffeinated coffee drinkers)

·      There’s such a thing as caffeine-intolerance (but this doesn’t lead to indigestion) which causes formation of methyluric acids when ingesting caffeine (as well as theobromine and theophylline which are present in tea and chocolate), that is for people who suffer from gout

Reference:

Dayrit, Fabian. Alkaloids in Health and Commerce, (2010)

Random Facts on Food: Wine

Wine is sold in tinted bottles because wine spoils when exposed to light.

“All teas are just the same?”

Teas are among three kinds of plants that are historically and commercially relevant to many cultures – the others being coffee and cacao. What these three plants have in common is the presence of xanthine alkaloids – naturally occurring compounds that have special biological effects to the body.  Among these xanthine alkaloids that are present in these plants, the most popular are theophylline (tea), theobromine (cacao) and caffeine (coffee).

The tea plant has its scientific name come from the Jesuit missionary Georg Josef Kamel (“Camellia”) and from its country of origin, China (“sinensis”). The word “tea” is of Chinese origin from the Hookien pronunciation of this Chinese character 茶. The plant itself is indigenous to the East Asian region, particularly in China, Japan, India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Tea as a beverage can be argued as the most widely consumed drink in the world (ironically, China is the most populated country in the world and tea is a staple drink there).

Culturally, tea is important in Asian cultures. In China, Japan and Korea, tea is very culturally rooted, with tea ceremonies being one of the practices that are traditionally practiced by families. With regards to religion, tea plays an important role in Zen Buddhism. Despite the cultural rootedness of tea in the Asian region, it also became part Western culture particularly in England and Russia. It is important to note that tea is not an exclusive commodity among the rich, but is also drunk by other levels in society.

http://www.elitedresses.com/v/blog/uploaded_images/chinese-tea-ceremony-790623.jpg

There are three basic kinds of tea: Black, Green and Oolong. These three types of tea differ by the flavor that they have. It is important to note that these three basic kinds of tea do not differ by the ingredients used, but rather in the way that they are prepared.

·    Black tea is prepared by oxidizing its constituents through fermentation.

·    Green tea on the other hand is prepared by drying the freshly picked leaves over mild heat skipping the oxidizing process.

·    Oolong tea is unique such that it only goes through a partial oxidation, getting a flavor that’s a mix of Black and Green tea.

·    It is important to note that herbal and medicinal teas are completely different from the three mentioned, for the fact that herbal and medicinal teas do not contain any tea leaves at all, but instead are made out of flowers, berries, peels, seeds, leaves and roots from other plants.

Teas – particularly Green tea – is good for human consumption such that it contains vitamin C, vitamin B and other essential compounds that promote good health such as riboflavin, niacin, folic acid and pantothenic acid. Moreover, minerals are also present within Green tea such as magnesium, potassium and manganese. Moreover, the xanthine alkaloid present in tea – theophylline – is used as a diuretic, mycocardial stimulant, and smooth muscle relaxant, making tea have good pharmacological effects in moderate consumptions.

Did you know?

·      That tea was once considered to a prized commodity that it reached up to $100/lb

·      Milk tea was first invented in 1680 by the Dutch

·      That there’s a “correct” way of brewing tea

o   Black tea for 3 to 5 minutes

o   Green tea for 1 to 3 minutes with cooler water than black tea

o   Water used must be aerated (oxygen is needed to release full flavor of tea)

·      Five cups of green tea can provide decent amount of magnesium, potassium and manganese into the diet in relation to the daily averaged requirement

·      A cup of green tea has more fluoride than the average fluorinated water

Reference:

Dayrit, Fabian. Alkaloids in Health and Commerce, (2010)

“Chinese Tea Ceremoy: It’s Importance.” Available from http://blog.elitedresses.com/2009/06/chinese-tea-ceremony-its-importance.html. Accessed on 08 October 2010.

SAFE DRINKING

MYTH: “Diet” drinks are healthier

FACT: One can of regular pop contains about 135 kilocalories whereas a can of diet pop contains less than 10 kilocalories; some even contain zero kilocalories. Therefore, it is true that diet pop contains fewer calories. However, it is rather difficult to agree that diet pop is "healthier" as there is really nothing healthy about artificially colored and flavored water. In fact, artificial sweeteners are sweeter and make you crave for more.

MYTH: All bottled waters (sparkling water, tonic water, flavored water, and mineral water) are water.

FACT: Plain bottled water is water and is calorie-free. Some flavored waters are made with water and real juice. However, many flavored waters are flavored with artificial sweeteners and contain little juice. Tonic water, for instance, has 125 kilocalories per serving. Hence, reading the label and checking the ingredient list is important. Also, if you drink bottled water instead of tap water regularly, make sure it contains fluoride. 

MYTH: Drinking wine instead of beer won't make a beer-belly

FACT: It is simply not true that wine contains fewer calories than beer. One glass of wine (five ounces) contains about 130 kilocalories whereas one bottle of beer (12 ounces) has about 150 kilocalories. Therefore, wine contains more calories on a per-ounce basis. As a general rule, the sweeter the wine, the more sugar and calories it contains. By the same token for hard liquor; the higher the proof, the higher the calories.

Remember this next time when you are contemplating a second helping of alcohol: calories from alcohol tend to be stored as fat in the abdomen. So, if you drink alcohol on a regular basis (regardless of the kinds of alcohol), watch out for the beer-belly!