Brew it strong — because the news for coffee lovers in a coffee-growing region just keeps getting better.
Remember the bad old days, when reaching for that second — or fourth — cup meant you had to cut the buzz with a dose of guilt? Because coffee was supposed to be bad for the nerves, bad for the bowels, bones and everything else? Well, the tide started to turn some years back, and a steady percolation of new studies only continues to boost the purported health benefits of the drink to near mythic status.
Here’s just a sampling of what a slurry of studies are telling us:
Coffee is good for the heart and protects against liver cancer, degenerative brain diseases and Type II diabetes.
Diabetes, a growing scourge worldwide, is 50 percent less likely to develop in people who drink at least four cups of coffee a day, according to a 2011 study published in the Journal of Agriculture &Food Chemistry. Another study published in 2012 in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease found higher caffeine levels in the blood of those 65 and older led to a substantial delay in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
Some of the latest news: People who drink four or more cups of coffee a day are about 1.5 times less likely to develop multiple sclerosis than those who drink no coffee. That’s from a study by researchers with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, scheduled to be presented to the American Academy of Neurology in April.
In a world where it’s easy to reach for a sugary snack to boost energy and many people struggle with obesity and depression, coffee offers the ability to boost energy and mental outlook while triggering a response in the body to produce adrenaline and burn fat, researchers say.
Some of the best news may be that — with more than half of Americans older than age 18 taking coffee into their systems on a daily basis — the bean comprises the single largest source of antioxidants in the diets of most Americans. According to a 2005 study by the University of Scranton, the antioxidants — which neutralize free radicals and have anti-cancer and anti-aging benefits — are highly absorbent when delivered via the bean.
Now, the benefits of coffee are extending beyond the roasted bean, and a growing industry is devoted to researching and creating healthy products from the coffee fruit, ripe and green.
Five years ago, Shaun Roberts, CEO and founder of KonaRed, was mulling over the fact that millions of pounds of skin and fruit of coffee cherry were being discarded during the processing of Kona’s famous product. A developer of consumer products for two decades, Roberts, of Kauai, had gathered from his research that ancient cultures of Ethiopia and Yemen were using coffee fruit for teas and powders before they ever used the bean.
That knowledge helped set Roberts on the trail of an enterprise that would put KonaRed — an antioxidant-laden a drink made from the fruit of the coffee cherry — on the shelves of some 2,100 Walmarts, 1,000 Kroger stores and a total of around 5,000 outlets across the country.
“Over the last five years, I’ve been working with Tommy Greenwell to take the cherry out of his waste stream,” Roberts said. “It’s not an energy drink. The caffeine is in the bean; the antioxidants are in the skin.”
In conjunction with FutureCeuticals, a licensing partner, Roberts’ nutrient and antioxidant-rich extracts and powders from coffee cherry — as well as food bars and chocolate featuring the cherry — are going strong in vitamin sections nationally as well. Other products related to the mighty cherry are in the research and development phase, Roberts said.
At The Mountain Thunder Coffee Plantation, coffee extract is the basis of a line of health and beauty products, from anti-aging creams to bubble bath and moisturizing products.
In the future, the fruit could be used for yet another product shown to have some health benefits — in moderation.
“When you separate the skin, you end up with a lot of fruit, and it’s very sweet, and it could very easily be fermented,” said Holualoa coffee farmer Bruce Corker. “If you can do that, then why not produce a coffee wine?”