An early morning cup of coffee may not just be enjoyable; it could actually have profound ramifications for your heart health. A recent study discovered that workplace coffee machines may produce beverages with excessive levels of cafestol and kahweol – substances known to raise LDL (bad) cholesterol to potentially unhealthy levels, thus increasing cardiovascular disease risks. The study, published in February by Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases, investigated 14 different coffee machines at four Swedish healthcare facilities. Scientists studied the cafestol and kahweol concentrations of coffee samples extracted from these machines as compared to boiled, percolated, French press/cafetiere brewed coffees. Results revealed that workplace coffee machines produced beverages with higher concentrations of cholesterol-elevating substances than boiled or percolated coffee, despite Nordic nutritional recommendations advising against its consumption. Furthermore, these findings suggested that traditional filtered coffee at home using either a drip filter machine or filter basket was generally safer than office coffee machines.

Researcher assessed 14 machines for cafestol and kahweol concentrations measured as milliliters of water per 100 grams of ground beans, measuring this measure using milliliters. They discovered that machines which ground and passed hot water through coffee grounds in metal filters produced more cafestol per liter and 12 milliliters per liter for kahweol than others such as percolation coffee machines, boiled and percolated coffee, French press/cafetiere brewed filtered coffee contained significantly lesser concentrations of these cholesterol-raising compounds than these machines.

The team also conducted analysis on liquid-model and instant coffee machines that are popular workplace staples; these typically had lower diterpene concentrations compared to paper-filtered brewed coffee. However, this doesn’t imply you should stop drinking coffee in the office – according to researchers’ estimates, swapping out three cups from a brewing machine with five filtered coffee cups on five consecutive days could reduce LDL cholesterol by 0.58 millimoles per liter. Over five years or a 40-year career, this could result in an estimated 13% reduction of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk; 36% over 40 years. Furthermore, this reduction would be equivalent to adding two ounces of full-fat cream in every cup of coffee! Further investigation should focus on how different machine factors influence diterpene levels as well as interventional studies on personalized coffee preparation methods for optimal outcomes.