Is Your Workplace Coffee Putting Your Health At Risk? The Hidden Effect Of An Unfiltered Cup Of Joe

Unfiltered Coffee: The smell of freshly brewed coffee early in the morning can stimulate our minds and energize us. People in the office, especially, enjoy coffee to boost energy, enhance focus, and improve productivity. But how safe is your workplace coffee?

While many studies have revealed that drinking a moderate amount of coffee offers several health benefits, a cup of hot brewed coffee from your workplace coffee machine could be secretly increasing your LDL cholesterol, leading to long-term side effects. Want to know why?

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Is the coffee in your workplace healthy?

In a recent report by Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases (NMCD), the forum revealed that because coffee machines do not filter diterpenes like paper-filtered coffee does, consuming workplace-brewed coffee too frequently could increase the risk to cardiovascular health.

The NMCD states, ‘Most coffees from workplace brewing machines contain higher diterpene concentrations than paper-filtered coffee, but lower than unfiltered coffee. Intake of insufficiently filtered coffee during working hours could be an overlooked factor for cardiovascular health due to its effect on plasma cholesterol concentrations.’

Analyzing diterpene levels in coffee machines

With an aim to measure the levels of diterpenes in coffee machines, the forum collected coffee samples from 14 Swedish workplaces, out of which 11 were brewing machines, 3 were liquid-model, to make a comparison with home-made coffee brews.

To evaluate the concentrations of cafestol and kahweol, which are diterpenes especially found in an unfiltered coffee, the forum used an analytical technique called Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS).

The study also found that a cup of coffee from brewing machines contains higher diterpene concentrations than paper-filtered coffee, but lower than that of boiled coffee. However, what makes boiled coffee less harmful is the process of filtering it through a sock, which reduces the diterpene levels.