Are you worried about heart palpitations, insomnia, or switching to decaf coffee because of pregnancy?

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Afraid of insomnia and palpitations, is it healthier to drink decaf coffee?

Are you worried about palpitations, insomnia, or switching to decaffeinated coffee because of pregnancy?

Drinking coffee and wanting to consume less caffeine is actually related to the variety of coffee beans, grinding particle size, baking method, brewing method, water temperature, extraction time and so on. In addition, you can also choose specially treated decaffeinated coffee. Before roasting, coffee beans extract caffeine so that it contains less than 3% of the original caffeine. According to EU standards, decaffeinated coffee should contain no more than 0.1% of raw beans by weight.

Generally speaking, the side effects of coffee, such as palpitations and insomnia, are mostly caused by caffeine, so drinking decaffeinated coffee is indeed less likely to have palpitations and affect sleep. Some studies have also pointed out that for people who already have high blood sugar or diabetes, low caffeine may be the better choice, and it is less likely to counteract the function of coffee to stabilize blood sugar and aggravate diabetes by consuming too much coffee.

Decaffeine = remove side effects?

But Maria Bella, a dietitian and founder of extreme balanced Nutrition (Top Balance Nutrition), which specializes in weight control and healthy diet counseling in the United States, warns that you should not think that removing caffeine will remove all the side effects of coffee. There are still some health concerns that need to be confirmed by more research.

"many of the health concerns associated with coffee drinking, even if replaced with low caffeine, can still accumulate as a result of drinking too much, such as acid reflux and affecting mineral absorption such as iron, calcium and zinc, which in turn affects bone density," Bella said.

It is worth noting that the Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide (Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide) report even points out that decaffeinated coffee has a higher risk of raising cholesterol than regular coffee.

Although different studies have pointed out that caffeine has the effect of regulating blood lipids, caffeine and caffeinol in coffee are the key to increasing the concentration of triglycerides and cholesterol in the blood. In the past, some researchers suggested that as long as filter paper is used in general coffee, most of the coffee oils can be filtered out, effectively reducing the harm of drinking coffee to increase blood lipids. However, the Harvard report found that decaffeinated coffee, even after being filtered with filter paper, did not have much difference in oil content, which could still lead to an increase in blood lipids.

Researchers believe it may have something to do with caffeine extraction, but it has not been confirmed. New Scientist believes that it may have something to do with the variety of coffee beans; because Arabica beans (Arabica) have a higher unit price and are commonly found in boutique coffee, while low-caffeinated coffee beans are mostly Robusta beans, which contain more caffeine and white alcohol than the common Arabica beans.