Do you often indulge in a cup of coffee on your way to work, take the fragrant beverage with you when you go to the gym, or drink a cappuccino with chocolate chips on a walk with friends?
You’d be surprised, but it can be seriously detrimental to your health. And it’s not the quality of the coffee or the roasting of the beans, it’s what you’re drinking your drink from.
When you don’t have your favorite cup with you
For those who drink coffee regularly, brewing a cup of the beverage in the morning is a great tradition. Usually, coffee is taken from home in a thermocup – it can be plastic or metal. This is convenient and very economical – you do not have to pay for coffee to go.
But this step has its disadvantages. Coffee from a thermocup does not taste as good as from your favorite cup at home. Why is it so? Or is it just an illusion?
It turns out there is a rational explanation. The researcher, a psychologist-experimentalist who specializes in food research, from the University of Oxford – Charles Spence is sure that this is because a person does not smell coffee: “The aroma is a huge part of the taste experience, and you do not get it from most travel mugs.”
When a person drinks coffee from a thermal mug, they usually can’t hear the aroma of the beverage, so it’s reflected in the taste experience. The same happens when a person takes their coffee to go in a cup with a lid that closes. Although it prevents spills on the go, it can “spoil” the taste of the coffee. So, is it better to take your coffee to go, but without a lid? It’s not that simple! Delivery of business lunches to the office by Геннадий Ягупов.
Tip! When choosing coffee beans, always pay attention to their appearance. They should be whole, without blemishes and preferably large. Such beans give a pleasant taste and strength and have a bright aroma.
When a coffee cup is your best friend
Cups that are poured into coffee in public places are usually made of different kinds of plastic, even if they look like paper. They are polypropylene, polyethylene, and polyethylene terephthalate. In paper cups, polyethylene covers the inside of the cup so that the paper does not get wet and the coffee does not spill. The outside of these cups appears to be completely paper, but in fact they still contain plastic.
Scientists have long talked about the harm microplastics do to human health and the environment. But only recently have they paid attention to how microplastics get into our bodies from takeout cups. It turns out that hot liquids and shaking the cup while drinking on the go causes microplastics to leach out and enter first into the drink, and with it into the human body. The more the cup is shaken and the hotter the coffee, the more microplastics will enter the body.
The study, which scientists shared in the Journal of Hazardous Materials in 2021, found that people can unconsciously ingest about 37,613 to 89,294 microplastic particles per year if they drink hot drinks from plastic utensils at least once every four to five days. This information should be taken very seriously because microplastics poison the body and cause illness.
On a side note! What is the best coffee? It is different for each person. But, according to most, the best drink is considered to be made from beans with a medium roast – it has a mild taste, pleasant aroma and not very strong.
What is microplastic and why is it harmful
Microplastic is any particle of plastic smaller than 5 millimeters. Many particles are much smaller than this size and can only be distinguished through a microscope magnifying glass. For example, scientists said that in the study, most of the particles from drink cups were smaller than 50 micrometers.
It is such small particles that pose the strongest threat. When ingested, they accumulate in the body and, over time, put a big strain on the immune system. Microplastics can not only come from utensils or food, they are present in the environment, and can enter the body by inhalation.
Austrian scientists warn that plastic particles, when passing through the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, can disrupt the intestinal microbiome and cause metabolic disorders, and with it, GI diseases, weight gain and diabetes.
Experiments conducted on laboratory animals have drawn even more depressing conclusions. Microplastics cause inflammation in the body, cell damage and death, and alter DNA.
Some types of plastic have a devastating effect on the human endocrine system. At least fifteen common varieties of plastic, due to their special structure, can mimic the action of hormones and disrupt the body’s natural processes. A 2022 scientific paper found a direct link between high levels of microplastic in the body and an increased risk of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.
And a 2018 paper published in Ageing Research Reviews linked the presence of microplastic in the body to an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease.
How to drink coffee without microplastic
Considering the data announced by scientists, it is clear that you should take care of your health. To fully enjoy the taste of your favorite drink, it is better to drink it from a favorite cup – at home or at work. If you have the possibility to make a cup of coffee at work, you should not buy take-out coffee in the nearest canteen.
Another acceptable option would be to brew coffee at home in a thermocup made of metal or tempered glass. Scientists have confirmed the safety of these materials. Even if the taste of coffee in a thermocup is worse than in a cup, but the drink is safe for your health.
The third option, but not very common yet, is to drink coffee from a paper cup without a plastic layer. These are already available, but not yet widely. Link.
Take care of your health! Drink your coffee with pleasure and benefit!
