Coffee, Lattes and Cholesterol

Much has been made in recent years of the positive and negatives effects of drinking coffee. However there is something I did not know about coffee that is discussed in an article by Dr. Rob van Dam, Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. Here is a clip from it:

Coffee contains a substance called cafestol that is a potent stimulator of LDL cholesterol levels. Cafestol is found in the oily fraction of coffee, and when you brew coffee with a paper filter, the cafestol gets left behind in the filter. Other methods of coffee preparation, such as the boiled coffee common in Scandinavian countries, French press coffee, or Turkish coffee, are much higher in cafestol. So for people who have high cholesterol levels or who want to prevent having high cholesterol levels, it is better to choose paper filtered coffee or instant coffee, since they have much lower levels of cafestol than boiled or French press coffee. Espresso is somewhere in the middle; it has less cafestol than boiled or French press coffee, but more than paper filtered coffee.

Interesting how a simple paper filter makes all the difference between a drink that raises your cholesterol levels and one that does not. Makes you think about those French Press brewers (pictured) and the espresso makers used to produce lattes and cappuccinos. Something to ponder while you wait in line at your neighborhood Starbucks.