Monday February 8th, 2010
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Saying Adieu to My French Press
Posted by Su Avasthi on March 28, 2007 - 1:24pm.
A couple days ago, a friend emailed me an article in the New York Times about how various beverages affect our health.
I dutifully skimmed it, expecting to find the same old, same old. You know, water is good for us, soda is not, cut back on sugary drinks, and caffeine and alcohol are healthy in moderation.
But a few paragraphs down (and in parenthesis), I discovered a bombshell. Apparently, drinking coffee brewed in a French press -- as well as espresso machines -- raises cholesterol and harmful LDL levels.
Mais non! Say it ain't so.
A French press, also known as a press pot or coffee plunger, is my very favorite way to achieve the perfect cup of coffee. The flavor is yummier and the texture is thicker and more sediment-y (some of us appreciate this quality.) And apparently, the process leaves behind some essential oils.
And that is where the trouble starts. Unlike a drip machine, coffee made in a French press or espresso machine doesn't require a filter. As a result, chemical compounds, including Cafestol and Kahweol remain in the coffee, and seem to cause our cholesterol levels to spike. It seems that Cafestol is the most potent cholesterol-elevating compound known in the human diet. Great.
To a French press addict like myself, this is terrible news. After all, that humble coffeemaker is one of my favorite things in the world. It is, quite simply, one the reasons that I get out of bed in the mornings.
For years, I've loyally defended my French press, as the coffee snobs in my life who feel the need to upgrade to outrageously expensive coffeemakers.
The same loyalty sent me to Google the situation, just to see how dangerous this method really is. Unfortunately, what I found wasn't especially encouraging. Several sites, including MSNBC, Wikipedia, CoffeeGeek, and, of course, Lime.com note that the French press or European brewing methods are linked to higher cholesterol. Somehow, though, I'd never registered this information.
The silver lining is that people with low or average cholesterol rates probably don't have to worry much about this. Still, I'm not sure if I can have my potta joe if I cut back on eggs or other high-cholesterol foods.
The truth is, I refuse to put my favorite coffee pot on a high shelf. I might live a bit longer if I do that -- but I'll be too grumpy to enjoy the extra time.
Photo credit: CoffeeGeek
Topics:
- Nutrition
- beverages
- Cholesterol
- Coffee
- coffee plunger
- coffeemakers
- espresso
- French press
- LDL
- nutrition
- press pot
Cholesterol be damned. I will not give up espresso, or the French press stuff that my writing partner makes at his place.
Cafestol, Kehweoul, or gasoline, I'm moving forward, full speed ahead.
I have been warned by a doctor about my cholesterol, and since then I've made a lot of changes, not all of them easy, but this is something I just will not do. You'll have to put me in a box first.
This is where I draw the line.
It used to be thought that soy milk helped lower cholesterol, however in 2006 the FDA said the soy industry could not make that claim anymore with having discovered new evidence to the contrary. There goes my idea that you counterbalance the coffee by making it a soy latte!
You know, in France, we do not worry about cholesterol too much or fats, and bla,,,bla,,,bla,,,We live quite a long life and we seem to to get huge either...the key? Sure some natural genetics, I am sure, but the MAIN ingredient:
Good quality foods and ingredients AND moderation...Same for coffee...Some studies shows now that it helps you not to have a heart attack, others that it can stress you..AGAIN...moderation...and, when we are at it, in France we start to boost bio wine (organic) and bio coffee too (at last) ...So, if you get organic coffee it is better too... I remarked that too may people trying for controling fats a lot and cholesterol etc...finish to become stressed, paranoid and tight...MODERATION...IS....the key...
I agree wholoe-heartedly!!! Moderation is the key. If you watch your diet and watch the other foods you eat, go ahead a live a little. Life is way too short and skipping a good cup of joe is really a sin.
Ce la vie!! ( don't know how to spell that, but you get the jist).
I love my french press, but I've cut waaaaay back on my coffee intake (2-3 cups a week vs 2-3 cups a day).
Apparently, coffee zaps our iron? The last time I went to donate blood, the drop didn't even bob in the copper sulfate solution. It just sat there on the top. I eat loads of green veggies and iron-fortified goodies, plus take supplemental iron. I was WAY confused!! Then the guy asked if I'm a coffee drinker, and told me to quit.
Hmph.
As far as cholesterol, why not have a bowl of oatmeal with the coffee in the morning? All those ads about people lowering their cholesterol 17 and 24 points in thirty days have to mean something!
I drink only 2 cups of coffee a day. I drink organic, fairly traded, Arabica coffee. I am NOT giving up my press! Life is just too damn short. I also have a "normal range" lipid profile!
As it was once said on "Saturday Night Live's" news broadcast: "This just in. Saliva has now been proven to cause cancer, but only if swallowed in small amounts over long periods of time." Nothing is safe - or sacred - anymore.
I like it gooo
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