The French press is the simplest way to brew coffee. Since it was invented until now, it has been embraced by many coffee lovers. You can use a French press pot whenever you want and in a few minutes, you can enjoy a big pot of flavorful coffee to share with your friends anytime.
What are the health benefits of drinking coffee from a French press pot for a long time?
"French press pots are bad for your body" is a topic you hear a lot within coffee circles, such that whenever I drink French press pot coffee, my family is always worried about me drinking too much.
I love French press pots, and I love the flavor of the coffee even more. To clarify whether French press coffee is bad or good for you, or rather, how much is the right amount to drink? We looked at some studies to see what effects French press coffee can have on your body.
How is French Press Coffee Different?
There are many ways to make a cup of coffee. And the extraction of coffee directly affects which type of coffee maker we should buy as well as the coffee beans. Most of them require some sort of filter to do the job. For example, say a paper filter for pour-over coffee or a metal filter like an espresso or Moka pot. They all filter the coffee grounds, or some coffee oils, through a specific filter.
French press pots are a special yet commonly used coffee pot that does not require you to purchase additional coffee filters to filter the coffee, which is brewed by steeping. The coffee grounds are filtered out through the metal filter that comes with it.
Many people like to brew coffee with a French press pot because it is simple and convenient, no special brewing skills, can largely release the grease, and the flavor of the brewed coffee is stable; however, some people do not like the French press pot because it has the disadvantages of leaving coffee grounds and higher requirements for coffee.
Nowadays, we see some people recommending the use of filter paper to filter the French press coffee twice. Yes, you can filter, but the traditional method of making a French press pot does not use filter paper as a secondary filter. If you have tried it, you will notice that the flavor of the secondary filtered French press coffee is very different from the traditionally made coffee.
This unique method of making steeped coffee results in the release of more than 1,000 compounds during the extraction process, some of which are harmful to health and cannot be filtered through metal filters.
Is It Healthy To Use A French Press?
The main reason the French press pot is harmful to your body is the presence of cafestol and kahweol compounds in the coffee grounds species.
They cannot be filtered by metal filters and they can cause elevated cholesterol levels in your body, which can affect your health.
Cafestol is a diterpene compound found in coffee. Cafestol is found in high levels in unfiltered coffee, such as Turkish coffee, but is found in almost negligible amounts in filtered coffee.
In the 1980s, it was discovered that consumption of unfiltered coffee could raise serum cholesterol levels in humans, and this result was caused by the presence of cafestol and cafestol in coffee.
Both substances can be extracted by hot water but are retained in the filter paper. This explains why Nordic brewed coffee, Turkish coffee, and French press coffee contain relatively high levels of cafestol (6-12 mg/cup), while filter coffee and instant coffee contain small amounts (0.2-0.6 mg/cup). Although diterpenes are relatively high in steam-pressurized brewed espresso, the small serving size makes it a minor source of cafestol (4 mg/cup).
So is French press coffee good for you?
Although French press coffee contains a lot of cafestol and kahweol compounds, which are not friendly to our cholesterol. But there are also in vivo and in vitro experimental results showing that they also have a variety of potential pharmacological effects such as anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, anti-cancer, and anti-diabetic.
How to make your French press coffee healthier
What you must know is that almost 80% of cholesterol is produced naturally in the body and only 20% comes from our diet. That means that we can control only 20% of our cholesterol.
Think back to how many cups of French press pots of coffee you drink each day.
Drinking 5 to 8 cups of unfiltered coffee a day may raise your "bad" LDL cholesterol," says Dr. Eric Rimm, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
That means that if we consume more than five cups of French press coffee per day, we are at risk of elevated cholesterol levels.
Therefore, let's limit the consumption of French press coffee to less than five cups. If you drink one or two cups a day, please do not give up this French press coffee.
If you already have a genetic problem with cholesterol, it is not recommended that you continue to drink French press coffee.
Not only French press coffee, but any coffee can be bad for your health if you drink too much of it. Controlling caffeine intake in moderation is the priority we should give.
Benefits of French press
What are the other benefits of using a French press pot?
1. Convenient and portable: French press kettles are undoubtedly the easiest way to brew. You don't have to worry about the power plug, whether the kitchen can be put down or not. All you need is a pot of hot water and you can brew a perfect cup of coffee.
2. Brewing is more casual: When you are ready to start steeping, set an alarm for four minutes, during which you can do what you want to do, which is particularly hassle-free. The French press pot is also known as the "alarm clock coffee pot" by some friends
3. No fixed ratio: If we make pour-over coffee, we need to pay special attention to the powder-to-water ratio, and brewing skills. If you want to drink better hand-brewed coffee, you need to keep practicing to find the best balance of coffee beans and water. And the French press pot is very inclusive, you can adjust the brewing temperature you want within the temperature range, you can choose the preferred grind size (a clean filter is important), as well as, you don't need to specify four minutes of steeping, you can three minutes, five minutes, etc.
4. Environmentally friendly: The process of brewing a French press pot does not require the use of electricity, so it does not produce carbon emissions. There is also no need to use coffee paper filters, and a French press pot has a long and durable life, making it a particularly environmentally friendly coffee pot.
5. On-the-go: The regular French press pot comes in four sizes, and the smallest capacity is especially suitable for putting into a backpack, which is lightweight and easy to carry, especially for outdoor travel.
Dr. Rimm and his colleagues believe that controlling the intake of these ingredients, may slow down the absorption of blood sugar, increase the new metabolic rate of the blood, and help blood vessels contract and relax.
Conclusion
Avoiding the dose to discuss the danger or not is an incomplete and uncritical conclusion.
We all know that overdosing/drinking a particular food can affect the body. This also applies to french press pot coffee. If you drink only 1-2 cups of French press coffee per day, it is perfectly fine.
However, if you already have cardiovascular disease, then it is recommended to stop drinking French press pot coffee. You can choose to use paper filters for your coffee. Of course, consulting your doctor is the best option.
