Many people worldwide consume coffee on a daily basis and would admit straightforwardly that they are addicted to this drink. That is why the high volume of coffee demand in the global market has made this beverage become the world’s second most traded commodity after petrol.
But, somehow, the world would come to controversy when coffee drinkers heard of the introduction of “decaf.” Heavy coffee drinkers would question what is the point of drinking coffee without caffeine?
To answer why would people drink decaf? Those people choose to drink decaf coffee because they are coffee-sensitive. They want to enjoy drinking coffee, but they cannot handle the effects afterward, whereas others are conscious about their health. Therefore, decaf allows people to enjoy the taste of coffee but still be safe.
Keep on reading if you haven’t cleared your doubt. This article will tell you some health benefits that decaf coffee brings to you.
What is Decaf?
Decaf or decaffeinated coffee is a process of extracting the caffeine out of the coffee beans through different techniques prior to roasting and grinding. The beans are frequently steeped in organic solvents until all of the caffeine has been absorbed. As a result, decaf will taste like normal coffee, but slightly more sour.
1. Decaf Coffee Can Lower High Blood Pressure
It has been in the news that decaf can help with lowering high blood pressure. However, it does not mean that decaf coffee will stop you from having hypertension. Instead, it lessens or prevents the chances of getting one, although it demands a lot from you to have a healthy routine.
On the other hand, high blood pressure is an act when the heart is pumping blood in a stressful manner, causing the pressure to increase. There are two ways to know or measure high blood pressure. To start with, we have to watch out for two pressures: systolic (the upper number) and diastolic pressure (the lower number). If the number is generated to be over 140/90mmHg, it indicates a clear high blood pressure message.
By consuming decaffeinated coffee, you are considered to consume less coffee. Coffee is known to tighten the blood vessels, thereby causing the blood to move in a stressful manner and increasing blood pressure pumping into your body.
But drinking decaf coffee will still provide a similar taste to coffee and will lessen the chance of your blood vessels being stressed and pressured. This means, it will save you from having other cardiovascular issues such as stroke, heart disease, or kidney failure. However, you can still have your daily dose of coffee but just less caffeine-induced into your body with decaf.
2. Decaf Coffee Can Help Lower Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
First of all, type 2 diabetes is a common health disease that could happen to anyone with an unhealthy diet or genetics. It occurs when the sugar or glucose level inside the bloodstream is too high. Eventually, it can lead to other health issues like circulatory, heart, and nervous system disorders.
In type 2 diabetes, two impairments are going inside the body. The first one is the failure of the pancreas. Secondly, the insufficient production of insulin. When your pancreas fails to produce enough insulin, the additional sugar will be excessive inside your body. Then, your body could not store the glucose properly, and you kept consuming more and more food. Eventually, it is causing you to excessively pee a lot more or experience extreme thirst.
According to numerous clinical studies, decaf can alleviate the risk of type 2 diabetes through weight loss. One of the studies suggested that decaf coffee has significant results with shredding weight. And gaining weight is one of the biggest signs that could lead to type 2 diabetes. As a matter of fact, most of the people who suffer from type 2 diabetes tend to be overweight.
Decaf coffee can help lower the risk by decreasing the excessive weight that one is having. Therefore, an experiment was conducted by giving decaffeinated coffee to participants. After 60 days, the participants lost 5.7% of their initial weight.
3. Decaf Coffee Can Lower Anxiety
One of the common side effects of caffeine is anxiety. We drink coffee to get that booster or adrenaline that we want during the day to get through our work. However, some people or on some occasions, they might not experience the effect of coffee subsiding anytime soon. Caffeine can also cause restlessness and nervousness that sometimes is known as “jitter.”
Once the jitter happens, it can lead to anxiety and extreme nervousness throughout the day. Bearing that in mind this routine is not healthy for both emotional and mental state. You will eventually feel extremely tired by the end of the day and feel more and more exhausted.
Furthermore, some people are prone to have anxiety or panic attacks more than others. Therefore, if you feel like so, but still wish to enjoy the taste of coffee, you might have to shift to decaf coffee as well.
Decaf coffee can still allow you to enjoy the taste of coffee, but the effect of caffeine is so much lower. Therefore, you can fuel your body and enjoy that cup of joe; however, you would not have to worry about being so anxious or feel extremely tired by the end of the day.
4. Decaf Coffee Can Reduce The Effect of Gastroesophageal Reflux (GERD)
Gastroesophageal Reflux or GERD is a digestive disorder when the stomach fluid or acidic juice pushes from the stomach up to the oesophagus. This disorder could frequently happen among all ages. It could occur with infants and elders. In other respects, people with asthma have a higher chance of getting Gastroesophageal Reflux more than any other group of people.
Gastroesophageal Reflux is quite painful. When it does happen, you will burp. Most of the time, you will experience an acidic taste in your mouth or heartburn. It feels like there is a sharp pain inside your chest. GERD could worsen as it goes on, and you will find it difficult to swallow food at the same time it happens. Furthermore, GERD could lead to more irritation and allergic reactions.
There is a study comparing decaf coffee and normal caffeinated coffee. It showed that the decaf one has a higher chance of diminishing GERD effect. At the same time, the normal caffeinated coffee only induces the effect even more because caffeine is found to have higher acidic levels than regular beverages.
On the other hand, decaf coffee is not simply acidic because the caffeine is mostly taken out. So, switching to decaf will help with GERD reflux as you consume less acidic substances.
5. Decaf Coffee Contains the Same Antioxidants that Regular Coffee Has
As we all know, regular coffee brings us multiple benefits. But it does not mean that decaf coffee does not do the same.
Decaf coffee is not popular among coffee addicts because it does not taste good compared to regular coffee. However, if we were to look into the ingredients and advantages of decaf, there are as many nutritions and antioxidants as regular coffee does.
Technically, some of the nutrition in decaf coffee (at most 15%) will be left out due to the decaffeinated process. Nevertheless, the main antioxidants are still present, namely hydrocinnamic acids and polyphenols. These antioxidants are useful in decreasing the reactive compounds of free radicals.
There are many more nutrients in decaf coffee, just like normal coffee. For instance, in a cup of decaf coffee, there are minor antioxidants such as magnesium, potassium, and niacin or vitamin B3. Subsequently, all of the above nutrients will help prevent heart disease, cancer and induce weight loss.
Who Should Opt For Decaf Coffee Instead of Regular Coffee?
A few groups of people should be watchful of their coffee consumption or switch from regular coffee to decaf. Some people cannot handle the effect of coffee as much as others because they are a little more sensitive to caffeine. Even a small amount of caffeine could be impactful.
It is best to avoid drinking coffee for those having difficulties sleeping or suffering from anxiety because it could give you more stress. However, if you still want that cup of Joe, you can switch to decaf coffee anytime.
Secondly, pregnant and breastfeeding women should also switch to decaf or limit their caffeine intake.
Third, people who have certain medical conditions can choose to have decaf coffee instead of a regular one.
Long Story Short
It is about time for the world to be friendly and welcome decaf coffee into the group. Before, there were controversies around decaf coffee because of the extraction process. Yet, the technology has changed, and the process is cleaner.
Decaf coffee has been proven and scientifically shown to be safe and bring numerous health benefits. Although it could taste a little sour than regular coffee, the advantages are still the same. If you are sensitive to regular coffee but would love to drink coffee still, you can give decaf coffee a try.