Coffee lovers love that bitter acidic taste of coffee. That specific flavour is caused by a chemical compound known as chlorogenic acid which is found in abundance in coffee beans and is just one of the many acids that coffee beans contain such as lactic, malic, quinic, citric, and acetic acids. But let’s focus on chlorogenic acid for one specific reason; it has several potential health benefits.
Types of Chlorogenic Acids (CGA)
CGA is a group of chemicals that have similar molecular structures. Within a coffee bean is a CGA called 5-caffeoylquinic acid. But this is not the only type of CGA that coffee contains. Each coffee bean will have traces of feruloyquinic, coumaroylquinic and dicaffeoylquinic acids. There will be varying concentrations of each depending on the taste of the coffee. Once digested, our body metabolizes these acids in two types: caffeic and quinic acid.
Amount of CGA in Coffee
Now, the amount of CGA in a coffee is not set. There are several factors that will affect the concentration of coffee after it is processed. For example, robusta coffee beans usually contain higher levels of CGA compared to Arabica coffee beans. You can actually tell this by the difference in flavour between the two. A major factor that causes the level of CGA to decrease is the roasting process. If you wish to get the highest level of CGA in a cup of coffee go for coffee beans that were lightly roasted rather than dark roasted ones.
Another factor that affects the level of CGA in coffee is the brewing temperature, the higher the temperature the higher the CGA level. To help you gauge the CGA level a recent study showed that a 7-ounce cup of coffee usually contains around 70mg to 350mg.
CGA and its Antioxidant Properties
Laboratory studies have shown that chlorogenic acid contains high amount of antioxidants. What this means is that drinking coffee with high levels of CGA can be quite beneficial to your skin as antioxidants are known to flush out free radicals from the body. Free radicals are chemicals that are basically toxic to the body and, among other things, they prevent proper skin cell regeneration and are one of the causes of rapid aging in skin.
Antioxidants can help cleanse the body and rejuvenate skin to return its smoothness and youthful glow back. Studies are still ongoing as to the extent of the benefits antioxidants have on the body in the long run but prior results are positive.
CGA seems to be gaining ground when it comes to its health benefits. You can now see plenty of products that promote the use of green coffee beans which are basically unroasted coffee beans. In theory, this will allow for optimum levels of CGA to be absorbed into the body. The beneficial claims range from high antioxidants to weight loss but is there merit to these claims? Medical researchers are still conducting tests but it shows promise.