Less Is More For Healthy Coffee Roasting

There have been many reports this week about a University of British Columbia study of antioxidants in roasted coffee. Some of the discussions were a bit confusing, but some writers, including reporter Randy Shore, have clarified the conflicting conclusions.

Antioxidants are several types of nutrients – vitamins, minerals and enzymes - that help to fight the body’s aging processes and prevent other damage to cells. Like some raw fruits and vegetables, green coffee beans contain antioxidants, but roasting at high temperatures destroys them. Fortunately, another class of these nutrients is formed by the roasting process. Some reports were stating that the darker the roast the more antioxidants produced. Actually, the fact is that the medium roast is best because too much of a good thing results in the demise of the second string antioxidants resulting from the roasting. Too much heat breaks them down. There’s no third string.

The antioxidants are found in both caffeinated and decaf coffees, so as long as coffee lovers choose medium to medium dark roasts, they should benefit from the extra help in fighting those cell damaging mechanisms. ROASTe has over 600 coffees designated as medium so the choices are plentiful.