Decaffeinated Coffee

With the increasing awareness of side effects of coffee, many people are switching to decaffeinated coffee. The taste of coffee is so addictive that people want to enjoy their cup of coffee but with no health risks. But, before switching to decaffeinated coffee you should know that other than caffeine, coffee contains other chemicals and compounds which can also cause health risks. So, is decaffeinated coffee bad for you? To know the answer to this question take a look at the information given below.

Decaffeinated Coffee Caffeine Content

If you ask "is there any caffeine in decaffeinated coffee?", then the answer is, yes, there is some caffeine present in the decaffeinated coffee. Caffeine is an integral part of coffee beans and the decaffeinated coffee process tries to remove the maximum amount of caffeine from these beans. The guidelines provided by the Food and Drug Association state that decaffeinated coffee should be processed so as to remove 97% of the caffeine from the coffee beans. Decaffeinated coffee contains almost 0.1 percent of caffeine in it. It is also found that 8 ounces of decaf coffee contains very few milligrams of caffeine, which is less that 5 milligrams. Drinking 5 to 10 cups of decaffeinated coffee equals to the caffeine content present in 1 or 2 cups of coffee. So, you can say that decaffeinated coffee contains negligible amount of caffeine.

Decaffeinated Coffee Health Effects

As mentioned earlier, coffee contains many other chemicals and compounds, other than caffeine, these include, chlorogenic acid, caffeol and diterpenes. Decaffeination of coffee beans only removes the caffeine content and the percentage of other constituents remains the same. Studies state that these constituents of coffee aggravate certain side effects of coffee, even if one drinks decaffeinated coffee. Moreover, you should also know that decaffeinated coffee is made from different coffee beans which are stronger than the regular coffee beans. Regular coffee is made from Arabica coffee beans, while decaffeinated coffee is made from Robusta beans. Both these beans have different chemical compositions and hence have different effects on human body. Robusta beans are very strong as compared to Arabica and contain more caffeine. Robusta beans are very acidic in nature, thus drinking decaf coffee, eventually causes acidity and other health problems like GERD and ulcers.

Researches state that Robusta beans contain high amount of diterpenes which leads to stimulation of fatty acid production. Some studies also state that drinking decaffeinated coffee directly relates to increased risk of heart attacks. This is because drinking decaf coffee causes increased production of bad cholesterol, which is one of the major reasons for heart attacks. Chlorogenic acid present in coffee is considered to increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Similar to caffeinated coffee, decaffeinated coffee also decreases the metabolic rate, and hence decaffeinated coffee and weight gain, go hand in hand. Thus, acidity, increased risk of heart disease and increased cholesterol, are some of the major decaf coffee side effects, which are quite similar to the side effects of regular coffee.

Decaffeinated Coffee and Pregnancy

There is very less research on the safety of drinking decaffeinated coffee by pregnant women. Some surveys state that moderate consumption of both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee, does not cause any serious problem in the development of the baby. But, health experts suggest that pregnant women should avoid excess consumption of decaffeinated coffee, as well as caffeinated coffee. As mentioned earlier, decaffeinated coffee contains small percentage of caffeine in it and this may pose harm to the development of the fetus.

This was a brief explanation on the decaffeinated coffee and pregnancy, its caffeine content and health risks of drinking decaffeinated coffee. From the above discussion, we can conclude that to avoid any type of health problem, decaffeinated coffee should be consumed in limited quantity. It is recommended that, if you have switched to decaf coffee from regular coffee, you should not drink more than two cups of decaffeinated coffee per day.