When given the choice between organic coffee and conventional coffee, there is no question that organic coffee is the healthier option. While organic coffee is grown without harmful pesticides, it falls short when it comes to standards essential to a truly healthy cup of coffee. The healthiest coffee goes beyond organic and also qualifies as specialty coffee, is thoroughly tested for mold and mycotoxins, and is roasted in a smokeless machine to reduce dangerous byproducts such as acrylamide.
Is Organic Coffee Better For Your Health?
Organic coffee is certainly healthier than its conventional counterparts due to the fact that it is grown with no health damage from pesticides, herbicides or fungicides, but it is not perfect. For the sake of perspective, conventionally grown coffee is one of the most chemically treated drinks on the market. Not only are these chemicals grown with large amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides that can harm your health, but they also often harm both the coffee farmers and the ecosystems that come in contact with them. But even organic coffee can fall short. For example, organic certification does not address essential factors such as the quality of the coffee beans or testing for mold and mycotoxins. The organic label also does not guarantee that coffee manufacturers have roasted their beans in the safest way to avoid unsafe byproducts and preserve coffee's healthy antioxidants.
3 things that make organic coffee healthy
While organic coffee doesn't tick all the boxes for the healthiest drink, it certainly benefits your health, the environment, and the farmers who grow it.
Organic coffee is grown without pesticides, herbicides or fungicides
More than 97% of the world's coffee beans are non-organic and treated with pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and other chemicals. And unfortunately, these chemicals also end up in your coffee. In developing countries like Colombia, Indonesia and Brazil, where most of the coffee is grown, there are little to no regulations on the chemicals and pesticides used, meaning farmers can spray their crops with just about anything. In fact, some of the chemicals these farmers use are chemicals that are already banned in America, Europe, and Japan due to their harmful health effects. Since organic coffee is grown without these toxins, it is clear that going for organic beans is a healthier choice as you consume a cup of coffee with no pesticide residues.
Better soil and water quality
Organic farming not only results in coffee that is safer for human consumption, but it is also significantly more beneficial to the environment in which the coffee is grown. With no toxic chemicals, farmers must use more sustainable methods of growing coffee, and these practices have been proven to significantly increase soil nutrients. One such environmentally friendly coffee growing method is the use of “shade trees” to naturally protect coffee plants from overexposure to sunlight. Shade trees keep the coffee beans in top condition and their foliage provides additional nutrients to the soil, resulting in higher quality coffee beans. Shade trees eliminate the need for chemical pesticides and preserve the local ecosystem by creating cleaner soil and water, which in turn helps combat deforestation and lower carbon dioxide levels!
Safer for coffee growers
Organic coffee is not only healthier for personal consumption and more sustainable for the environment, but it is even safer for coffee growers! From one research Among 81 coffee farmers in eastern Jamaica, most of them were found to suffer from at least one negative health effect related to handling pesticides. But when coffee is grown organically, hard-working coffee growers no longer come into contact with dangerous chemicals, creating a healthier and happier work environment.
4 Reasons Why Organic Coffee Isn't The Healthiest Coffee
It does not concern the quality of beans
Just because a coffee is certified organic doesn't mean the coffee beans are of high quality. The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) has three quality-based categories of coffee: specialty grade, premium grade and below-specialty grade. Specialty grade is the highest quality coffee. To rate a coffee, expert coffee testers look for major defects in the coffee such as unripened beans, coffee pods, sour beans, as well as minor defects such as chaffs present, broken or chipped beans, minor insect damage, and small sticks and stones. To qualify as a specialty coffee, the beans must be largely uniform in size, have a distinctive body, flavor, aroma and a healthy moisture content (between 9-13%). Specialty coffees usually also have more complex aromas.
Organic coffee can contain mold and mycotoxins
Just because coffee is organic doesn't mean it's free of harmful fungi and mycotoxins. As a result of poor handling and storage, coffee beans can often develop mycotoxin-producing fungi, which can cause a wide variety of health problems. Exposure to mold and mycotoxins can cause many health problems such as; fatigue, mitochondrial function, memory problems, brain fog, night sweats, hair loss, DNA damage, liver disease, kidney disease, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and cancer So be sure to read the packaging and look for third-party evidence to make sure are that your coffee is mold and mycotoxin free!
Organic coffee can be roasted incorrectly
While buying organic coffee can ensure that it is free of pesticide residues, it doesn't mean it has been roasted properly. Many popular coffee brands nowadays roast their beans at too high a temperature, which has adverse consequences. This can result in dangerous roasting byproducts, such as HCAs and acrylamide, which can enter your bloodstream, cause nervous system damage and increase the risk of cancer. Alternatively, the healthiest coffee brands roast their beans in small batches in a smokeless machine. Not only does this ensure that each bean is roasted more evenly with less burnt edges, but it also eliminates the most harmful substances and increases healthy antioxidants such as chlorogenic acid.
Organic coffee does not have to be tested in the laboratory
While it has long been claimed that the pesticide residues on coffee beans are removed during the roasting process, new studies suggest that up to 10% of these chemicals can leach into the coffee bean. This means that there is a good chance that pesticides will end up in your nice cup of coffee. It turns out that exposure to pesticides can lead to negative health consequences such as: respiratory disease, hormonal imbalances, Low IQ and ADHD in children, weakened immune system and cancer (usually in the breast, prostate and ovaries) The safest coffee is one that is held accountable by an external organization, with each batch being thoroughly tested for different types of pesticide residues and other common health harmful substances such as ochratoxin A, aflatoxin, acrylamide, mold and yeast. Only with such test results can you be 100% sure that the coffee you get is as healthy as possible!
Wondering which coffee beans have the least mycotoxins? According to biohackerslab.com, the following coffee brands have been tested for the least mycotoxins;
- Purity coffee
- Natural Force Coffee
- Bulletproof Coffee
- Kion Coffee
- Peak Performance Coffee
- Lifeboost Coffee
- Mindful Coffee
Sources include Biohackerslab.com (link), Academia edu (link)
