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Coffee and Cholesterol

ponderingturtle

Orthogonal Vector
ponderingturtle
Joined
Jul 11, 2006
Messages
54,545
I have heard that if you do not filter coffee through a paper filter, say in a french press, that is has high levels of oils that raise cholesterol. Is this true or BS?
 
No. Not as far as I know. Cholesterol is a Lipo-protein and forms a large part of cell membranes. It is manufactured in the liver and LDL transports the cholesterol to the cells, with HDL 'mopping' up and returning it to the liver for processing.

Thinking about it, I suppose caffeine could have an effect. It is a diruretic and adrenal stimulant, so I suppose that in conjunction with a poor diet of junk food could raise cholesterol levels.
 
ponderingturtle said:
I have heard that if you do not filter coffee through a paper filter, say in a french press, that is has high levels of oils that raise cholesterol. Is this true or BS?
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Yes, it is true, although I don't know if you could call it "high" levels. It has been demonstrated that coffee can raise cholesterol. But coffee also contains antioxidants that are cardioprotective. The real question is whether coffee increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. I think it probably doesn't. There's a good description of the literature at http://www.cosic.org/coffee-and-health/heart-disease (admittedly a biased source, but it seems to present the evidence fairly.)
 
The SkepDoc said:
Yes, it is true, although I don't know if you could call it "high" levels. It has been demonstrated that coffee can raise cholesterol. But coffee also contains antioxidants that are cardioprotective. The real question is whether coffee increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. I think it probably doesn't. There's a good description of the literature at http://www.cosic.org/coffee-and-health/heart-disease (admittedly a biased source, but it seems to present the evidence fairly.)
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The issue is does the paper filter change this significantly?
 
ponderingturtle said:
The issue is does the paper filter change this significantly?
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Did you read the reference posted by Parrotslave? It says boiled coffee raises cholesterol and filtering removes the cholesterol-raising factor.

So yes, the filter prevents the rise in cholesterol from boiled coffee, but there is no evidence that drinking boiled, unfiltered coffee has any adverse effect on human health.
 
complete BS??!

The whole concept sends my BSD into uncontrollable fits. The amount of oil that you get out of coffee beans would not affect your cholesterol, their is simply not enough of it. There is not enough evidence at least for my sake that oil and fat intake truly affects your cholesterol to begin with. Cholesterol seems to be the catch all problem area for any given food, I simply think their is a lack of understanding on how the bodie's cholesterol works and a lot of misinformation out there about it. As I have suggested before, read, criticize, repeat, do not believe information just because it is offered by "experts"
 
Dumbledore said:
The whole concept sends my BSD into uncontrollable fits. The amount of oil that you get out of coffee beans would not affect your cholesterol, their is simply not enough of it. There is not enough evidence at least for my sake that oil and fat intake truly affects your cholesterol to begin with. Cholesterol seems to be the catch all problem area for any given food, I simply think their is a lack of understanding on how the bodie's cholesterol works and a lot of misinformation out there about it. As I have suggested before, read, criticize, repeat, do not believe information just because it is offered by "experts"
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In the first place, a "lack of understanding" of cholesterol has nothing to do with the question of whether cholesterol is elevated by unfiltered coffee.
Have you gone to PubMed and searched for articles on coffee and cholesterol? When I did that, I found several studies showing that the diterpenes cafestol and kahweol in unfiltered coffee do indeed cause significant increases in serum cholesterol. It looked to me like it was pretty well established. If you don't accept that evidence, please tell us why.
 
The SkepDoc said:
Did you read the reference posted by Parrotslave? It says boiled coffee raises cholesterol and filtering removes the cholesterol-raising factor.

So yes, the filter prevents the rise in cholesterol from boiled coffee, but there is no evidence that drinking boiled, unfiltered coffee has any adverse effect on human health.
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The main thing I was wondering about also was why the focus on boiled coffee and does a french press count.
 
I realize that I do not know what I am talking about, but the whole concept is ridiculous, raising your cholesterol by drinking coffee, what about the cancer I am going to get from starlight. The medical community is as full of BS as any other field, and should be critically examined, including its research. Skepdoc, I am glad you went found research that agrees with what you wanted to find, and I am glad that you believe it is okay to be completely and utterly insulting when someone does not agree with you. Believe it or not when I state my opinion in a post I do not think everyone should agree with me, in fact I read these threads to hear differing opinions and learn from them, have you considered doing the same? I happen to not believe scientific evidence when it does not conform to basic logic, that is to say I am critical of research and evidence even when it is scientific. I can be wrong, and research can be manipulated, but the beautiful thing about science and research is that the facts will bare out, despite personal agendas.
 
Dumbledore said:
I realize that I do not know what I am talking about, but the whole concept is ridiculous, raising your cholesterol by drinking coffee, what about the cancer I am going to get from starlight. The medical community is as full of BS as any other field, and should be critically examined, including its research. Skepdoc, I am glad you went found research that agrees with what you wanted to find, and I am glad that you believe it is okay to be completely and utterly insulting when someone does not agree with you. Believe it or not when I state my opinion in a post I do not think everyone should agree with me, in fact I read these threads to hear differing opinions and learn from them, have you considered doing the same? I happen to not believe scientific evidence when it does not conform to basic logic, that is to say I am critical of research and evidence even when it is scientific. I can be wrong, and research can be manipulated, but the beautiful thing about science and research is that the facts will bare out, despite personal agendas.
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Then maybe you should find evidence not just supposition that boiled coffee does not effect cholesterol.
 
Dumbledore said:
the whole concept is ridiculous, raising your cholesterol by drinking coffee
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It may seem ridiculous, but it seems to be established fact. Coffee doesn't directly put more cholesterol in the blood, but the diterpenes in the coffee apparently have effects on human gene expression and cholesterol metabolism that raise the cholesterol level indirectly.

what about the cancer I am going to get from starlight.
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I agree, and I said as much: the coffee/cholesterol link is probably not of any practical significance to human health.


Skepdoc, I m glad you went found research that agrees with what you wanted to find
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You've got me wrong. I didn't know coffee raised cholesterol. I thought it sounded silly too. I went to PubMed expecting to find evidence to refute it, but instead I found evidence that changed my mind.

I am glad that you believe it is okay to be completely and utterly insulting when someone does not agree with you.
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Wow! That really blows my mind. I don't see how anyone could construe what I said as the least bit insulting.

I happen to not believe scientific evidence when it does not conform to basic logic, that is to say I am critical of research and evidence even when it is scientific.
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So am I. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof, but in this case I think the claim is not extraordinary and the logic is pretty good: the findings have been replicated in different kinds of studies, there is a dose/response relationship, and there is a known mechanism: "Cafestol, a diterpene present in unfiltered coffee brews such as Scandinavian boiled, Turkish and Cafetiere coffee, is the most potent cholesterol-elevating compound known in the human diet. Several genes involved in cholesterol homeostasis have previously been shown to be targets of cafestol, including CYP7A1, the rate-limiting enzyme in bile acid biosynthesis. We have examined the mechanism by which cafestol elevates serum lipid levels."

All I have to go on is the abstracts on PubMed, but in the absence of other evidence, I think it is quite reasonable to provisionally conclude that coffee can raise cholesterol by a small amount. Perhaps you know of other studies that I failed to find - and perhaps you have access to the full text of the articles and can point out flaws that would invalidate them. I already changed my mind once, and I'm quite willing to change it back, but I wouldn't be a good skeptic if I changed it back for any reason other than
better evidence.

the facts will bare out, despite personal agendas.
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I don't have a personal agenda. I certainly have no motivaton to criticize coffee, since I drink a lot of it and would hate to find a reason to have to stop.
 
Not to come off as too harsh, but I do find it offensive when someone tells me that my opinion only comes from a lack of understanding. Secondly coffee causing a increase in cholesterol is far from fact. How many studies have shown this, from what I have read there has been many studies since the 1970's, many contradicting each other, and many of the studies being small, many contradiction each other on what kind of coffee raises cholesterol and how. Thirdly I am stating my opinion and I feel that I do not need to give supporting research when I state my opinion, I am not here to convince anyone of anything, if you have questions you should do your own research. I find a healthy BSD sorts out the plausible from the ridiculous, and one must not forget that scientific research should also be viewed critically, doubly so for people offering evidence to back up their assertions.:cool:
 
Dumbledore said:
Not to come off as too harsh, but I do find it offensive when someone tells me that my opinion only comes from a lack of understanding.
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Well then there is no reason for you to be offended.



Thirdly I am stating my opinion and I feel that I do not need to give supporting research when I state my opinion,
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Then quit stating your opinion as fact.

For example

The amount of oil that you get out of coffee beans would not affect your cholesterol, their is simply not enough of it.
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Dumbledore said:
Not to come off as too harsh, but I do find it offensive when someone tells me that my opinion only comes from a lack of understanding.
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She was simply quoting your use of the phrase in post 9. Unless you were talking about your own lack of understanding, she wasn't either.
 
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