Monday, July 1, 2013

Calories In Coffee & Nutrition Facts

A glass of coffee in the morning to start this beautiful day. Do you ever heard that? If you never heard, this mean I made this up. Coffee is low calories beverages, because based on USDA National Nutrient database, calories in 1 cup of brewed or percolated ground coffee (about 8 fl oz or 237 g) is only contained 2 calories or equal to 10 kJ. This means, if you drink 2 cups of coffee only contained 5 calories or equal to 20 kJ.

Even it has low calories,  stimulating effect on humans because of its caffeine content.  Coffee has become the world's primary source of caffeine since the Stone Age. At that time, coffee is consumed by chewing raw as in seeds, leaves, bark, and twigs. Ancient humans believe, coffee plants able to fight off fatigue, stimulating awareness, and improve mood.

The highest coffee nutrition is caffeine, the history said that content of coffee is dominated by crystalline xanthine alkaloid compound that has a bitter taste sensation. Friedrich Ferdinand Runge a German chemist, who identified this compound in 1819. He gave the name for the compound caffeine that works very similar psychoactive stimulant drug and a diuretic.

A cup of black coffee
Image taken from wikipedia

Coffee nutrition facts

Other coffee nutrition in 1 cup of coffee such as sodium 5 mg, protein 0.3 mg, calcium 4.7 mg and potassium 116.1 mg. To get all coffee nutrition facts per 1 cup of coffee (8.4 oz), you can read it below.
Coffee nutrition facts
Screen shot taken from calorieking.com
As a comparison the amount of the caffeine content of coffee with another drink. One can of Coca-Cola contains about 23 mg of caffeine content, Pepsi Cola 25mg, Mountain Dew 37mg, and TAB 31 mg. Preformance of tea contains about 40 mg of caffeine, while an ounce of chocolate contains 20 mg.Actually, caffeine can be removed from the coffee by mixing coffee beans are still green with chlorinated hydrocarbon solvent. Instant coffee is obtained by mixing ground coffee beans with hot water and boil it. The water is then evaporated through the high-pressure spray, which will eventually leave the fine coffee powder.

Quote from wikipedia:
Many studies have examined the health effects of coffee, and whether the overall effects of coffee consumption are positive or negative has been widely disputed. The majority of recent research suggests that moderate coffee consumption is benign or mildly beneficial in healthy adults. However, coffee can worsen the symptoms of some conditions, such as anxiety, largely due to the caffeine and diterpenes it contains.

Wild coffee's energizing effect was likely first discovered in the northeast region of Ethiopia. Coffee cultivation first took place in southern Arabia; the earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking appears in the middle of the 15th century in the Sufi shrines of Yemen. In East Africa and Yemen, coffee was used in native religious ceremonies that were in competition with the Christian Church. As a result, the Ethiopian Church banned its secular consumption until the reign of Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia. The beverage was also banned in Ottoman Turkey during the 17th century for political reasons and was associated with rebellious political activities in Europe.

The content of coffee, especially caffeine in the body contribute to improve psychomotor work. Caffeine give effect of fresh flavors and increased energy. In a review of the chemical, caffeine-containing molecule metabolites are 1-3-7-acid trimetilurat, paraksantina, teofillina and theobromine. Caffeine contains a molecule that has the ability to bind to adenosine receptors, nucleotides in the brain that respond to fatigue. That is why caffeine can relieve fatigue.

Subsequent impact of the caffeine is causing increased brain activity and the release of the hormone epinephrine. The hormone epinephrine is able to raise the heart action, increase blood pressure, blood circulation, and remove glucose from the liver.

Previously, many thought that the content of coffee (caffeine) cause negative effects such as the risk of cancer, diabetes mellitus, insomnia, and heart disease. However, scientific research is precisely to the contrary. Caffeine, contains antioxidant compounds in sufficient quantities and are able to suppress the growth of cancer cells, reduce the risk of diabetes mellitus, and increased sensitivity to insulin. Coffee is also shown to prevent the risk of heart attack. To get more benefits, you can read at benefits of coffee and it's side effects.