7 Myths About Drinking Coffee

[jwoegerbauer]

Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in the world. This awesome beverage has become an important part of our mornings and keeps us awake when there’s a lot to do. There are different opinions about coffee based on different researches. Some say it does no harm, some say it is beneficial and some say it causes problems. Many times the arguments against coffee are wrong and are not based on any researches. This made some myths about drinking coffee popular. Here’s 7 of them:


• Myth 1: Coffee makes you feel stressed out

Drinking coffee does not directly increase stress levels or make you feel anxious or nervous. Coffee is considered a natural stimulant which can have a relaxing effect on your mind. Coffee is not directly responsible for triggering stress but it blocks production of adenosine in the body which is a natural stress reliever.

• Myth 2:Caffeine causes insomnia

This is a common myth about caffeine which is not true. When you drink a cup of coffee the body almost instantly absorbs the caffeine but it also discards it out quickly. Caffeine after being consumed is processed through the liver and almost half of it may be flushed out of the body within 4-5 hours and in another 5 hours almost 75% of it is eliminated out of the body. You should not face problems getting sleep due to caffeine if you just consume 2-3 cups of coffee on a daily basis.

• Myth 3: Drinking coffee causes cancer.

Another common myth associated with coffee is that drinking it regularly can cause cancer. Several researches have been conducted over the years but the results show that there is no connection between regular coffee consumption and the development of cancer.

Some researchers even found that people who drink coffee daily are at a lower risk of getting cancer. Coffee contains beneficial antioxidants which help fight cancer. It also helps to reverse the effects of aging and make you look younger compared to your age.

• Myth 4: Coffee has no health benefits

It is believed that coffee has no health benefits associated with it. This is not true as has been found out by scientists who have discovered some wonderful health benefits with coffee. Coffee contains useful antioxidants which have been found to improve your heart health and prevent and fight cancer.

It has also been found that regular consumption of coffee improves your concentration levels which in turn boosts your efficiency at work and personal life. It also can benefit people suffering from insomnia as drinking coffee can help you get better sleep.

• Myth 5:Caffeine is addictive

People who drink coffee regularly say that they are addicted to caffeine because they feel that they can’t leave without it. Addiction is when a person strongly depends on a drug with severe withdrawal symptoms. He should have an urge to consume it more and more and is tolerant to a particular dose. Caffeine consumption does not qualify to be an addiction and researches too have shown that caffeine does not cause any kind of addiction. Alcohol or other drug addiction can have severe social and physical consequences but this is not the case with caffeine which further ascertain the fact that it is not addictive or does not cause addiction.

• Myth 6: Coffee causes miscarriage, infertility and low birth weight

This is another misconception about coffee which has no strong evidence of being true. Scientist has found that there is no direct link between drinking coffee and miscarriages. Similarly women who take coffee regularly don’t necessarily give birth to babies with low body weight. Women who drink lots of coffee on a daily basis won’t face difficulty in getting pregnant or infertility.

• Myth 7: Drinking coffee may cause Osteoporosis

This is another common myth about coffee which has no truth. Lack of calcium and vitamin D in your diet is the leading cause of Osteoporosis and coffee consumption has a role in it. Some other factors contributing to Osteoporosis are lack of physical activity, smoking, low body weight, menopause, high protein diet and low estrogen levels. Studies conducted over the years have proved that if you consume a moderate amount of coffee on a daily basis it does not increase the risk of getting Osteoporosis.

Source:

[ol' boy]

Coffee makes you poo, no myth!

[weirdo]

Coffee makes you poo, no myth!

you must be doing it wrong
it makes you piss

[Uncle Fester]

Looks like an info mail from a coffee company. I would be careful about such claims and one should be exceptionally careful regarding anti cancer claims.

I know plenty who would medically qualify as coffee/caffeine addicted including my daughter.
I had some (German) friends, who's doctors have banned them from drinking of coffee because of risk to the heart after drinking too much in the past.

Most misleading is that some people think coffee gives them energy. In reality it is a drug that is tricking the mind. You get energy from eating proper food but coffee drinkers might simply substitute that with sugar.

I am the opposite. After one coffee I am a nervous wreck, racing heartbeat, cold sweating, etc.

Therefore I find it harmful to generalize like in the story above. What might be OK for some might not work for others.

A lot of people write that one coffee, just like one standard alcohol drink a day may have long term health benefits.

Here is where common sense should debunk all myths.

[shagga66]

The crap stinks and in every workplace there should be an area for coffee drinkers right next to the stinking smokers.....

[Downunder35m]

My whole family drinks coffee, I like the smell of freshly ground coffe beans but can't stand drinking it, no matter how much sugar or milk is added.
30 years ago having a smoke was so cool and normal that everyone smoked everywhere at all times.
Now a smoker is a dying breed outcasted almost everywhere and forced to pay outrages amounts for his habbit.
As long as there is no general health risk to broader population I think we can leave the coffee drinkers alone.
Some drink coke, some tea and others coffee, so what...

[lsemmens]

Coffee only ever gave me kidney stones, I stopped drinking 8 or 9 cups a day and I've been fine for the last 20 years. I still drink the stuff, usually first thing in the AM, maybe one in the afternoon, often one before bed. Has never been an issue. I fell for the "energy drink" guff, once, hoping that it would give me a bit of a kick on a long drive (Darwin to Adelaide), even though it was supposedly laden with caffeine, it did absolutely nothing for me, so have never purchased another.

[jwoegerbauer]

My motto: From the bean to the cup, releasing all the aroma of a freshly brewed coffee with just one touch. Hence I exclusivly use Arabica beans roasted in Italia, the coffee itself then is brewed with an Italian "fully automatic" coffee machine - with steam at 15 bar pressure. The resulting coffee is absolutly stomach-friendly.

[ol' boy]

with steam at 15 bar pressure.

????

Steam Pressure?? There is no gauge for steam pressure, the Boiler is set at 1.1 Bar, and if you have it at 15Bar, you made a bomb.
And the Pump Pressure should be between 8-9 Bar, 15 is pretty high and at the limit of most pumps.
It will also extract a very weak coffee, as it will pour too fast. Unless you have your grinder set to powder and tamper with 50kg of pressure.

At 15Bar with a normal gind setting and light tamper, all you are doing is punching a hole through your coffee

[jwoegerbauer]

you are right: I meant pump pressure.

15 bar is the default with most (Italian) machines currently available.

[ol' boy]

Really?


For the last 18 years i have been servicing them, i have never seen one that didn't look like the above.
What machine do you have jwoegerbauer??
I'd be interested if i ever come across it.

All the people that passed on their knowledge to me, have always recommended a pump pressure of between 8-10bar, often 8-9Bar.
It seriously stuffs up the timing of the pour if its above or below that mark.... then huge changes need to be made with the Grinder.

I have never meet anyone that runs 15Bar pump pressure, nor a machine manufacture that recommends it.
But i am limited to La Pavoni, La Cimbali, Rancilio, Wega, Faema, Gaggia, and few other one off machines.
They all set up exactly the same and share many common parts.

Have a read here, as the Italian Esspresso Instituto recommends 9 Bar +or- 1Bar.


Maybe you have a Domestic machine??
I'd be very interested where you found out that 15Bar is the default for most Italian machines?

[mango]

Really?


For the last 18 years i have been servicing them, i have never seen one that didn't look like the above.
What machine do you have jwoegerbauer??
I'd be interested if i ever come across it.

All the people that passed on their knowledge to me, have always recommended a pump pressure of between 8-10bar, often 8-9Bar.
It seriously stuffs up the timing of the pour if its above or below that mark.... then huge changes need to be made with the Grinder.

I have never meet anyone that runs 15Bar pump pressure, nor a machine manufacture that recommends it.
But i am limited to La Pavoni, La Cimbali, Rancilio, Wega, Faema, Gaggia, and few other one off machines.
They all set up exactly the same and share many common parts.

Have a read here, as the Italian Esspresso Instituto recommends 9 Bar +or- 1Bar.


Maybe you have a Domestic machine??
I'd be very interested where you found out that 15Bar is the default for most Italian machines?

the gauge on my machine is different to that, its a Boema 2 group head.

[ol' boy]

I meant as in settings, not that actual gauge.
Boema, seen a few, but never worked on the Aussie built machines.

So the real question is what pump pressure does it run at?

Nearly all commercial machines use an External or sometime internal Motor and Pump
The pump is almost always a Procon Clamp Ring Rotary Pump, sometimes different make, but design is the same (Rotorflow is another).

[koshari]

I would say somewhere round 10 bar adjustable by the pressure relief valve as most I have seen have an identical vibrating pump rated at 15 bar tops. Keep in mind at 15 bar the flow is very minimal.

[jwoegerbauer]

The pressure is essential for a great tasting cup of coffee. As oceanboy said, a pressure of 7.5 to 9.0 bar is regarded as the best range to release essential oils and aromas. Many machines have a pressure of 15 bar. Of these 15 bar, a large part in the brewing of the coffee is compensated, so that at the end of an ideal range of 7.5 to 9.0 bar results.

Only a few examples of 15 bar machine brands - as they are well known in EU:

Saeco
DeLonghi
Jura
Siemens
Krups
Gaggia

and so on ...

Gaggia (Italia's #1 when sold machines eyed) even offer a 17 bar machine

Actually have a DeLonghi in use. Before, 2 times a Jura (made in Switzerland), but these always gave up after 3 years - just after warranty has expired.



BTW: Both Saeco and Gaggia in between are owned by Philips (Netherlands)

[ol' boy]

Sounds like a list of Domestic machine to me.
Especially if they only lasted 3 years!

Seaco, were ok, now a bit rubbish, the people that trained me years ago are the Victorian Service Agents for them.
They were always in for repairs. Most in the that list don't even make a commercial machine

But, as i said, these are Domestic Machines! Toys.

Brewing??? Mate, there is no Brewing in an Espresso machine.... I think you better stop reading eBay ads
There is extraction though, by temperature and pressure in relation to grind size and compaction over a set duration of time for a given amount of espresso.
Thats it....

Pump Pressure stay constant (commercial machines), thats why they use the pump they do It should never raise above or go below the figure set by the machine manufacturer.
Which, is 8-9 Bar.

But i am really interested in the 15Bar is the default for all Italian machines?


Ok, i think i've found where you get this 15Bar pump pressure from, its a bad advertising and marketing ploy for the cheap Domestic Machines.
With horrible little pumps.

Even Kogan are in on the act.


Some reading on Domestic machines

To begin with, the pump. 18 Bar, 15 Bar, 9 Bar...what's the difference? In reality, none. ALL the pumps used in domestic machines are vibration pumps, usually made by either Eaton or ULKA, and all of them are basically identical. As long as the machine has a pump, you can ignore the "Bar" ratings. The rating itself relates to maximum output under ideal conditions, but in reality most domestic machines have extraction pressures between 9 to 13 bar at the group.

So in reality, the coffee is not made at 15Bar at all......
Sounds like the days of 125Watt amplifiers, when the nominal output was 35watts
Not even sure if these domestic pumps are adjustable?

[jwoegerbauer]

Brewing??? Mate, there is no Brewing in an Espresso machine.... I think you better stop reading eBay ads
There is extraction though, by temperature and pressure in relation to grind size and compaction over a set duration of time for a given amount of espresso.
Thats it....

For a cup of coffee, the coffee grounds must come in touch with hot water. For me this is "brewing". You can call it otherwise, of course.

Ok, i think i've found where you get this 15Bar pump pressure from, its a bad advertising and marketing ploy for the cheap Domestic Machines.

If you think €850 EUR (~ $1,300 AUD) I paid for my 15 bar domestic coffee machine (toy?) is cheap, then I don't know ...

That's the pump (made in Italy) which in most (Italian / European) machines is built in:


In general it produces a pressure of 15+ bar.

And, I don't read EBay ads, because I never did and never will buy off EBay. EBay is known as the largest trading centre for fence products.

[Uncle Fester]

When JW is right, he is right.
There is a whole Wikipedia article about coffee brewing including espresso:


However JW, when you are wrong you are way off.
Ebay (at least in Australia and USA) has a much larger variety of products than just fencing products.

Also the quality of a product has little to do with it being sold on Ebay or not.
You will find a quality product when you search properly for it and I am more likely to find the quality I need on Ebay than from a local retail store, although this is often only achievable second hand. Even a new German product is often now made in the P.R.C.

[ol' boy]

If you think €850 EUR (~ $1,300 AUD) I paid for my 15 bar domestic coffee machine (toy?) is cheap, then I don't know ...

Yep, cheap or not so cheap, but toys none the less, they cant really tamper to correct weights. And the current range of domestic machine are $2500-$3300.
What you paid has no bearing on the parts and systems used to make a compact machine.

To tell people the perfect coffee is made at 15Bar pump pressure is a bit of mis information though.
Yes, you are trapped in the world of domestic machines, where that poor little pump needs to work at its rated capacity of 15Bar to produce a 9 Bar extraction at the group head. That is not to say the perfect coffee is made with 15 Bar pressure.
Gawd, if people turned up their commercial machines until the gauge read 15 Bar cups would be over flowing!

Coffee is extracted at 9 Bar, thats is what general consensus is, what commercial machines are set to, what Baristas are taught, and what the group head in your domestic machine is trying to achieve. It hasn't changed in years.
The commercial motors and pumps have so much strength (because they are big), that the pressure really doesn't change much.
You can run the pump with an empty potra filter, it will be 9Bar, run it packed full of coffee, it might be 10Bar. Anything over that, is over extracting.