Decaf Coffee Health Information

Some coffee drinkers love the taste of coffee and the piping-hot jolt it gives in the morning. Others just love the taste. Decaffeinated coffee drinkers do run a few health risks when drinking a daily cup. Because coffee is naturally a caffeinated drink, the process of removing caffeine from each coffee bean involves using unnatural processes, at times, to cleanse the bean.

How Much Caffeine Is Left?

Decaf coffee processors should remove all but five milligrams of caffeine.

According to a "Consumer Reports" study in November 2007 ("Is It Really Decaf?"), you get at least some caffeine when you order decaffeinated coffee. Based on 36 cups of coffee from six U.S. coffee and food chain locations, caffeine per cup ranged from 58 to 281 milligrams.

For coffee to qualify as decaffeinated, producers must remove at least 97 percent of the caffeine content, according to Health Services at Columbia University. An eight-ounce cup of decaf coffee should contain five milligrams or less of caffeine. Regular caffeinated coffee generally holds 40 to 180 milligrams.

Dangerous Solvents

In the 1970s, coffee producers used harsh solvents to remove caffeine. Researchers later found that methylene and trichloroethylene, two solvents used, posed dangerous health threats to decaffeinated coffee drinkers. Since the 1970s, coffee producers do not use this removal method anymore. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), trichloroethylene is "an environmental hazard."

Removal

To decaffeinate beans, producers first soften them with water.

To decaffeinate coffee beans, processors soften the beans with water and use a substance to extract the caffeine. Without extracting too much flavor, processors mainly use one of two methods. These processes are safer than they were in the 1970s.

The first is called indirect decaffeination, or "naturally decaffeinated." Processors use hot water to soften the beans, a solvent to extract the caffeine but keep the bean's flavor, and hot water again to remove the solvent. The beans never directly touch the solvent during this process. As of 2002, the most widely used solvent was ethyl acetate, found in many fruits.

The Swiss water process, developed by a Swiss company, uses no solvents. In this method, coffee makers soak and soften the beans with water and then run bean broth through activated charcoal or carbon filters to decaffeinate it. The flavorful coffee juice is returned to the beans, which are later dried and sold.

Heart Risks

Decaffeinated coffee may increase the risk for heart disease.

According to BBC and the U.S. National Institutes of Health, a 2005 study suggested that drinking decaffeinated coffee could increase the risk of heart disease by raising "bad LDL" cholesterol levels.

The U.S. study looked at 187 people. One-third drank three to six cups of regular caffeinated coffee every day. The second group drank the same amount of coffee but it was decaffeinated, and the rest drank no coffee. At the end of the study, researchers found that the group drinking decaffeinated coffee had experienced an 18 percent rise in fatty acids in the blood, which drives up bad "LDL" cholesterol. Fatty acids did not change in the other coffee groups.

Disclaimers

According to Judy O'Sullivan of the British Heart Foundation, the heart disease study is not relevant for those who enjoy a coffee, regular or decaffeinated, once or twice a day. The heart disease research leader, Dr. Robert Superko of the Fuqua Heart Centre in Atlanta, said, "I believe it's not caffeinated but decaffeinated coffee that might promote heart disease risk factors." However, he added that if a person drinks only one cup per day, the results of the study have little significance because that is a low dose. Those who drink three to six cups, though, might need to heed the study's warning.