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Healthy, Roasted Coffee Beans, Thanks to Science

Dan Perlman, a biophysicist, and K.C Hayes, a nutritionist,  have previously  developed the "healthy fats" blend in the Smart Balance buttery spread over twenty years ago; have now invented the parbaked coffee bean. This new method of roasting green coffee beans is meant to enhance the health benefits of coffee. Perlman developed the flour milled from parbaked beans to act as both a food ingredient and a nutritional supplement.  Many studies have proven that drinking coffee is good for you and I've written several posts on coffee in the past  here , here , here and here :) Perlman wanted to study a way to roast coffee beans but at the same time not loose its health benefits. When coffee beans are roasted at over  400 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 to 15 minutes -- the CGA content drops dramatically. One study found the decrease ranged from 50 to nearly 100 percent. Chlorogenic acid (CGA)is an antioxidant. CGA is thought to be beneficial in controllin...

Are You Drinking Your Coffee Correctly?

Everyone starts their day with a caffeinated drink, mainly coffee or tea. And everyone believes that coffee is the sole reason why they wake up in the morning.  But did you know that you might be drinking coffee the wrong way? And you might not get all of coffee's benefits ? ASAPScience gives all the details in the video below. 

Coffee has evolved twice!

The coffee genome has just been published. Denoeud et al have sequenced the genome of coffee (biological name Coffea canephora). They found that within coffee’s 11 chromosome pairs, that there were many duplicated genes which include the one that code for the production of caffeine. They also suggested that these duplications enhance the products produced by the coffee plant to produce more effective proteins. The research also found that unlike tea and cacao (the chocolate component), the genes that code for the production of caffeine, in the coffee plant, are different to the genome sequence for the tea and cacao caffeine-producing enzymes, defining that the caffeine production genome has evolved at least two times. The genome sequence could help in research to help identify the genes that help the plant to combat diseases (related to the plant) and to also cope with climate change and to also encourage more delicious tasting coffee! To read more about coffee and caffeine ...

Coffee: the Good, the Better and the Not-So-Good

Millions of people over the world start their day with an aromatic cup of coffee generally to wake them up.  Coffee contains caffeine which is the stimulant that interacts with the body to make you feel more alert. How Coffee works and its benefits Caffeine works as an antagonist (block receptors) of adenosine receptors in the brain. Caffeine mimics the natural neurotransmitter; adenosine, and blocks the receptor, preventing adenosine from binding to the receptor and slowing the nervous impulses. In turn this makes the nervous impulses quicker and the brain works faster. Also caffeine can relieve headaches and migraines since it binds to adrenergic receptors on vascular muscle cells which cause them to constrict instead of dilating.