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Science News

Drink Decaf and Die 467

Posted by samzenpus from the I-love-caffeine dept.
jose parinas writes "Decaffeinated -- not caffeinated -- coffee may cause an increase in harmful LDL cholesterol by increasing a specific type of blood fat linked to the metabolic syndrome, hints a new study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2005."
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Drink Decaf and Die More

Drink Decaf and Die

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  • Robust == Robust flavor? This is incorrect (Score:5, Informative)

    by ReformedExCon ( 897248 ) <reformed.excon@gmail.com> on Thursday November 17, 2005 @05:54AM (#14050863)
    From the article:

    quote:
    "Whether coffee has caffeine is not the only thing that differentiates caffeinated from decaffeinated types," Superko said. "Caffeinated and decaffeinated coffees are often made from different species of beans. Caffeinated coffee, by and large, comes from a bean species called coffee Arabica, while many decaffeinated coffees are made from coffee Robusta. The decaffeination process can extract flavonoids and ingredients that give coffee flavor. So decaffeinated brands usually use a bean that has a more robust flavor."
    / end quote

    Robusto is named not because it has a more robust flavor than Arabica, but because it is a hardier species. In fact, the taste of robusto coffee is so heinous that only people without the sense to drink freshly ground coffee are susceptible to this travesty. I suppose that also includes decaf drinkers, but it also includes those who drink freeze dried coffees and mass produced brown powder that comes in cans.

    To be blunt, Starbucks coffee would actually be a step up in quality from robusto beans.
    • I've always understood that the reason decaffeination removes flavour is that the caffeine tastes bitter. The solution is not to use different beans, but to roast a little darker to restore the strong bitter taste.

      My favourite decaf comes from a little boutique that measures it out at the point of sale. Next to their darkest roast coffee, it is clearly even darker still!

      I think the reason most decaf is so bad is that you have to get it pre-ground (even at restaurants and cafes) and thus it's stale and the wrong grind anyway, or else it's such a fringe item that it sits around longer on the shelf going stale between roasting batches.

    • You raise up a good point about stale coffee, which also may have some bearing on the study. From the article:

      "In this study researchers gave participants a nationally popular home-brewed caffeinated coffee and decaffeinated coffee brand."

      Granted, they wanted to do a study researching the health effects of regular versus decaffeinated coffee on the general population, so they went for what most people use, which is probably canned pre-ground. But it's probably a poor reflection of what fresher coffee doe

    • Starbucks is good coffee (Score:5, Interesting)

      by xtermin8 ( 719661 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @06:53AM (#14051033)
      I beleive Starbucks was one of the first chains to insist on only selling Arabica beans. Its decaf coffees have always been made with Arabica beans. Basically Starbucks was a leading voice in the trade for discouraging the use of Robusta. You may not like Starbucks, but to criticize their large selection of various coffees as being second rate is barking up the wrong tree.

      • Re:Starbucks is good coffee (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Rxke ( 644923 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @08:29AM (#14051437) Homepage
        The guy might be rated informative, but he's just a coffee or food snob, dissing Starbucks because it's too regular. I drink my coffe because it has caffeine in it. All the rest is just posing.

        • Re:Starbucks is good coffee (Score:5, Insightful)

          by mellon ( 7048 ) * on Thursday November 17, 2005 @11:07AM (#14052960) Homepage
          I assume what you've said is essentially a troll, but I can't resist. You are actually a poseur, in the most basic sense - you are projecting an attitude about something in a way that implies it is the only correct attitude. Lamers who drink coffee because they like the way it tastes are simply deluded, from the view you present.

          I will admit that there is some justice to your view - the amount of effort I spend making coffee in the morning is kind of bizarre. However, for what it's worth, the ritual evolved naturally, and I can in fact taste and enjoy the difference between the coffee I brew and what is typically served in a restaurant. I am sorry that you do not share this enjoyment, but as long as coffee does for you what you want, it's all good, right?

          As for the whole robusta vs. arabica thing, espresso fiends should be aware that a lot of espresso includes robusta beans to sharpen the flavor. Robusta has a bad rep because a lot of cheap coffee is made with robusta, but it is a legitimate bean with a legitimate flavor that works well in some blends.
        • Honestly, don't assume. I cannot stand the regular Starbucks coffees -- I find them absolutely rank. I can barely deal with their espresso, but only in a milk-containing beverage. This doesn't mean I'm a coffee snob.

          I think, like most things, it's a matter of taste. Some people like Starbucks, and find it worth the cost. I find it repulsive at any cost. Fortunately for me, my local coffee shop roasts and brews coffee much more to my liking, and even happen to be cheaper than the major chains.

          The diffe
  • Just what we need. Fat people suing McDonalds for making them fat, and coffee junkies suing $random_coffee_corp.

  • Thats it, I quit everything (Score:5, Funny)

    by Snamh Da Ean ( 916391 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @05:57AM (#14050870)
    This is the last straw - I quite drinkng tea and coffee because caffeine is bad for health, quite smoking because nicotine is bad, quite drinking soft drinks because sugar and all that stuff that makes the drink fizzy is bad for you, and now freaking decaff has been sliently killing me. From now on, all bets are off, I'm just going to smoke crack and to hell with the consequences.

  • It is a matter of equilibrium (Score:3, Insightful)

    by VincenzoRomano ( 881055 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @06:00AM (#14050877) Homepage Journal
    Life could be more a matter of equilibrium. It is known that a small quantity of caffeine is not poison for our bodies rather it has a number of good effects on it.
    When we start to do things out of the equilibrium, the situations become unstable (as seen in physiscs).
    It is the same as sugar, fat, proteins, vitamins alcohol and the likes.
    Maybe the right move could be to get small amounts of plain coffee with a little of sugar (thus no sweeteners and no decaffeinated powders). If it is not healthy, it will be by little.

  • Everything bad for you is good for you again (Score:5, Insightful)

    by pubjames ( 468013 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @06:03AM (#14050886)
    Things that have recently been found to have positive health properties: beer, chocolate, coffee. In moderation of course.

    Personally I follow a very simple rule - eat and drink everything, just don't eat or drink too much of any one thing.

    There was an interesting study recently - the French (yes, we hate them, yawn) apparently eat lots of stuff that is supposed to be bad for you, and yet remain healthy and slim. How do they do it? Basically, eat in moderation and don't snack between meals.
     
    • Very true. Forget the low carb and light and decaf stuff, just don't eat and drink so much. I never ever eat light stuff because I think it doesn't taste as good as regular. I don't get fat though, because I don't eat twenty in-betweens and little snacks and I don't drink fizz. Plus I take my bike to work. It works, really. There is no need for the latest fad. Just eat vegetables. Without sauce.

      I was amused to find out that when that lo-carb fad was going on (is it still?) doctors who had patients with k

    • Moderation is Key (Score:5, Funny)

      by kripkenstein ( 913150 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @06:36AM (#14050982) Homepage
      I also try to do everything in moderation. I even moderate in moderation, so I end up doing some stuff to the extreme, just so I won't be an extremist at moderation, also known as an extremist moderationist. Or is that a moderate extremist. I give up, time for another cup of coffee.

  • Move and die (Score:4, Insightful)

    by external400kdiskette ( 930221 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @06:11AM (#14050904)
    Everything in one way or another in some sort of situation or in excess is going to make us "die" ... but generally I don't see anyone a shortened life for the sole reason that they drank a cup of decaf every day or normal coffee for that matter.

  • I guess Garfield was right (Score:5, Funny)

    by QuantumG ( 50515 ) <qg@biodome.org> on Thursday November 17, 2005 @06:16AM (#14050921) Homepage Journal
    Shame he's rarely funny.

  • This just in (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    This just in, being born will kill you. A study by like 10 bajillion genius Harvard researchers and shit said that 100% of people who are born, die. Scientists suggest that this is based on genes inherited from victim's parents and are working on a test to detect it.

  • thanks (Score:5, Funny)

    by Use Psychology ( 873643 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @06:30AM (#14050967)
    Decaffeinated -- not caffeinated
    thanks for that clarification!

    • Re:thanks (Score:3, Informative)

      by Vo0k ( 760020 )
      Especially that it's doubly redundant: No coffee is ever caffeinated.
      Coffee, as opposed to "caffeinated drinks" contains natural caffeine, different doses depending on brand, preparation, etc. but I haven't heard yet of coffee that would have to be caffeinated. Decaffeinated coffee on the other hand is subject to decaffeination, process opposite to caffeination - removing the drug.

  • I wonder... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Vo0k ( 760020 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @06:30AM (#14050969) Journal
    my BMI is way over "reasonable" index, I drink beer, sometimes liquors, normal coffee, a range of foods including these rather unhealthy, don't move too much, yet my blood pressure is perfectly within norm, the "bad cholesterol" detector device displayed LO meaning the levels were undetectably low, I don't have any serious health problems... I wonder why :)

  • Fatties only (Score:4, Insightful)

    by RocketRainbow ( 750071 ) <rocketgirl@@@myrealbox...com> on Thursday November 17, 2005 @06:35AM (#14050977) Homepage Journal
    Interesting that the decaf was only "theoretically harmful" to fatties. To normal or skinny people it has the reverse effect and the level of the naughty chemical dropped.

    So maybe if you happen to be normal or skinny, decaf is even better for you than you thought.

    Of course we puritanical vegan types aren't dying of a heart attack anyway because we barely eat enough saturated fat to make the cholesterol we need to bind our cells together (yay coconuts and avocadoes: necessary to bind our cells together).

    Does anyone else have trouble actually bringing up the article without a bunch of stuff all over the top of it? (Say, in Firefox?)

    • GOOD for fatties, BAD for thin people (Score:4, Informative)

      by jjo ( 62046 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @08:12AM (#14051313) Homepage
      You didn't read closely enough.

      In measuring HDL cholesterol, researchers looked specifically at HDL2, a type of HDL in which high levels are particularly associated with lower risk of heart disease

      IN overweight people, decaf drinking was associated with increase of good cholesterol, so they might benefit from decaf. Thin and normal-weight people saw a decrease in good cholesterol, so they might want to avoid decaf.

      This is, of course, much more complex than "Drink decaf and die". So it's probably hopeless to try to get the real message across.
  • The dose makes the poison. Too much of anything is bad for you; too little of some things is bad for you. Strike the right balance and you'll be fine.

    Well, right up until old age gets you; let's face it, if there's secret way to become immortal we haven't found it yet. We're all going to die of something, might as well have a little fun in the meantime.
    • Well, right up until old age gets you;

      too much of time kills too :)
    • Too much of anything is bad for you

      ME TOO!!!!!!!!!

      Seriously, this is said so often that it fails to have much meaning, but let's consider what it means. You need vitamin A to live. But it can kill you. A simple requirement, something you'll die without, and it'll run you through.

      The same is true for many vitamins. Vitamin C is an obvious exception.

      Consider the healthiest things you love to eat. I'll name some of mine: Mangoes will turn my skin orange, cherries will give me a tummy ache, coconu

  • Really, it's true. Salts in the bloodstream or something.

  • Yellow snow (Score:4, Funny)

    by rev_karol ( 735616 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @06:43AM (#14051000)
    You don't drink decaf for the same reason as you don't eat yellow snow. They're both piss. End of story.

  • Somebody has to remember this (Score:4, Funny)

    by Keichann ( 888574 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @06:45AM (#14051009)
    From Garfield sometime...

    John walks into the room, yawning, and picks up a mug of coffee.
    Garfield: No, don't do it John!
    John takes a sip and promptly collapses, asleep.
    Garfield: I warned you! That was decaf...

  • sensationalism (Score:2, Insightful)

    by dancallaghan ( 890674 )
    "Drink decaf and die"? Gee I wonder why Slashdot gets accused of headline sensationalism ...
  • My father has long been of the opinion, based on something that he read somewhere, that decaf coffee is more harmful than regular coffee. Something to do with the decaffeination process introducing harmful chemicals into the brew, or maybe he was just thinking of the process originally used to brew Sanka, I don't know. Either way, this will be just a little bit more validation for him...

    • Re:Not really news (Score:3, Insightful)

      by ti-coune ( 837201 )
      Attention !

      Not all decaf process use chemicals. Some only use water to remove the caffeine, yes, just water.

      If you read the article carefully you will see that they don't link the cholesterol change to the decaf process but they say on average manufacturers use different type of green coffee (robusta) to produce decaf and it's this green coffee that brings in more fat components, nothing to do with the decaf process.

      You could use arabica to produce decaf as well and you could not conclude anythinh then. The

  • Slashdot Headline (Score:5, Funny)

    by krygny ( 473134 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @06:57AM (#14051049)

    "DRINK DECAF AND DIE!!"



    When the hell did Rupert Murdoch buy Slashdot?!!

  • gaming... bad!, coffee..... bad! (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 17, 2005 @06:59AM (#14051056)
    I hope they won't research my third addiction. I haven't spend years building my porn collection just to hear it's unhealty.

  • I don't care about these crap articles anymore ... (Score:5, Funny)

    by raulfragoso ( 790076 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @07:06AM (#14051076)

    Once I read that smoking could kill me, then I stopped smoking

    Then I read that drinking alcohol is bad, so I stopped drinking

    Then I read that too much sex could cause a heart stroke ... so I stop reading !

  • Life is a Lethal Disease (Score:5, Funny)

    by RAMMS+EIN ( 578166 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @07:11AM (#14051088) Homepage Journal
    A study I conducted in private has found that life is a lethal disease. In fact, it has been identified as the leading cause of death in nations around the world. The disease is slowly degenerative, with some individuals surviving for over a hundred years; but eventually, the disease exhausts the body's resources, resulting in organ failure, followed by death. The incubation time of the disease is about 9 months, and it spreads through unprotected sexual intercourse.

    Symptoms of the disease vary wildly from individual to individual, but generally include excessive motion, episodes of sadness as well as happiness, aggression, anxiousness, nervosity, and compulsive eating and drinking.

    Various drugs have been found to weaken the symptoms of the disease, and some substances can even slow the progress of the disease, but a definite cure has not been found, despite elaborate research. So for now the only remedy is prevention.

  • And yet, the real cause is ignored..... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 17, 2005 @07:18AM (#14051110)
    The real cause of death doesn't lie in food or beverage. Here's a recent study that explains everything:

    "We all know that Heart Disease is the #1 cause of death in the U.S. But think hard about this: In Japan, they've got a diet that is low in fat and they have less heart disease than the US. While in France, the diet is very high in fat, and they also have less heart disease than in the US. In India, almost nobody drinks red wine and the heart disease rate is lower than in the US. But in Spain, everybody drinks too much red wine and sure enough they have less heart disease than the US. Algeria has the lowest sexual activity rate, and they've got less heart disease than in the US. But Brazil has the highest sexual activity rate and sure enough...the heart disease ratio is lower than in the US. His sage wisdom to me? Drink, eat and make merry all you want. It's speaking English that kills you."

    • Re:And yet, the real cause is ignored..... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 17, 2005 @08:59AM (#14051638)
      My hypothesis: We have more heart disease due to the aggravating factors, due to obesity increasing the bad effects of those factors in the U.S. In the US, people drive their cars and watch their televisions a lot more than in those other countries. (As opposed to walking more, to get around.)
      Someone I met from the Netherlands told me he went to Chicago and expected to be amazed by the size of the huge skyscrapers... instead he was amazed by the size of the huge people. When I travelled in the Netherlands, and in France, I saw very few obese people. This is waaay different than the situation in the U.S. midwest.

  • Of course, this presumes that LDL is actually bad for you, i.e. the correlation between LDL and heart disease is strong and that those proposing the correlation is significant have actually proven causation as well. There are those who believe otherwise (http://www.thincs.org/ [thincs.org]). But hey, why buck the multibillion dollar drug industry? They will bury you.
  • To me, drinking decaf coffee is about as appealing as drinking non-alcoholic beer.

  • Drink Water. (Score:5, Informative)

    by rolfwind ( 528248 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @07:28AM (#14051136)
    Nothing is bad in moderation. Or at least worrying about. Drink water most of the time and I doubt you have to worry what the occasional cup of coffee, wine, hard liquor, soda does to you.

    I repeat simple common sense - drink water most of the time. It seems nothing else is safe these days. Some weeks it comes out that red wine/coca-cola/coffee is good because of X and then the next week it's bad because of Y.

    Above all - don't drink the shit that has 'corn syrup' or 'high fruchtose corn syrup' or whatever 'syrup' in it. It'll just get you diabetes faster. This includes most sweet drinks not diet. Like Starbucks Frappacinos at the next 7-eleven.

    I'm serious about water. Up to 50 years ago, most people had water most of the time. It's good for you body and there is nothing for your kidneys/liver has to filter. Now, I know people who wouldn't look at a glass water - much less have one for days on end - instead ingesting endless gallons of soda. I hate to see their health 20 years down the road.

    It's probably going to get worse in the future as this generation are accustomed to the friendly coca-cola vending machines besides the non-working water founta in schools these days.

    Coffee is bad because it encourages you to consume more calories through milk and sugar, plus it has caffiene and the various crap that goes with it. I think caffeine is more of a addiction - I seen people who never had coffee before turn into caffeine addicts who needed a cup 'to wake up' and then one at lunch and then another at 4pm. I wouldn't care but they actually became cranky if they didn't get their fix.

    Not that I don't like a good cappacino at lunch myself. But if common sense prevailed and people didn't have an insatiable want of drinking something more 'tasty' or sugary or exotic or whatever at every turn - I doubt reports of this kind would worry anybody.

    *I'd say unsweetended green tea is okay too in mass quantities but then there will be a report out next week:)

    • Re:Drink Water. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by naich ( 781425 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @08:15AM (#14051328)
      "Up to 50 years ago, most people had water most of the time."

      Not really. Ordinary water tended to have nasty bugs in it, so the way to get rid of them was to either boil it (and make tea, as they did in the East) or ferment it (as they did in the West).

      Because people in the East used the boiling method, rather than the fermentation method of purifying water, they didn't develop the same tolerance to alcohol that people in the West have.

  • No JNI (Score:4, Funny)

    by trollable ( 928694 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @07:43AM (#14051194) Homepage
    I always advocated pure Java.

  • Of course it's bad (Score:3, Funny)

    by IAmATuringMachine! ( 62994 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @08:30AM (#14051443)
    As I've said in my debugging code for years, 0xDECAFBAD

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