Coffee machines at work have been detrimental to health

Certain oils in coffee beans, including kahweol and cafestol, seriously alter the composition of the blood for one of the most important compounds. As scientists have found, some coffee brewing methods leach far more of these oils into the beverage than others.

Researchers have long established that brewed coffee contains high levels of cafestol and kahweol. These greatly increase cholesterol levels. Although this compound is essential to the body in normal doses, high levels of certain types of cholesterol have been reliably linked to an increased risk of heart and vascular problems, as well as increased mortality from heart attacks and strokes.

For this reason, Scandinavian countries have even included a call to avoid drinking coffee brewed in a coffee machine in their recommendations for citizens. At the same time, conventional coffee machines with a paper filter almost completely rid the finished beverage of both of these oils, making it safe. Considering that coffee is generally good for the cardiovascular system, it's perfectly reasonable to consume it in this form.

Now scientists from Sweden have decided to ask the question: what's the deal with this in the workplace? In a new paper published in the journal Nutrition Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases, they measured 14 standard coffee machines in offices. The machines used five different brands of ground coffee. Although the number of machines tracked was small, the brands were chosen to cover the bulk of similar systems on the market.

It turns out that not all machines handle filtration equally. The most common type of office coffee machines simultaneously turned out to be the one that filtered the worst and gave maximum cafestol and kahweol in the drink. There were 11 of them, all of which used ground coffee for brewing. Another three used liquid coffee concentrate. There, the levels of unsafe oils were much lower.

To get the background to office coffee makers, the authors of the scientific paper conducted tests for the same types of coffee prepared using “non-office,” household methods. So, they measured the levels of oils in coffee from a percolator, a French press, in a beverage brewed in a standard coffee maker, and then in the same “coffeemaker” filtered through a cloth filter sold in stores.

Turns out, typical office coffee machines yield 176 milligrams of cafestol per liter and 142 milligrams of kahweol. Machines making coffee from liquid concentrate rather than ground or bean coffee gave levels radically lower: 8.7 and 6.3 for cafestol and kahweol, respectively.

Neo-office type coffee machines, with filter, showed levels of 11.5 and 8.2 for these oils. French presses - 87 and 69 (average threat levels). Coffee makers without a filter - 939 and 678. Beverage from the same but after filter - 28 and 21 milligrams per liter, respectively. The sad palm of superiority was given to espresso, where cafestol and kahweol gave concentrations of 1059 and 621.

The overall conclusions of the study are pretty clear: office coffee machines, other than those running on liquid concentrate, are unlikely to be particularly healthy. The popular French presses at home are safer, but also far from ideal. A drink brewed in a coffee maker and espresso by these oils is most dangerous. But a filtered beverage from the same coffee maker or a home coffee machine with a filter is maximally safe.