Qualitaly_107

OCT. NOV. 2018 XV AT PAGE 52 FEEL GOOD AT THE TABLE How sweet is the taste of coffee Three cups of espresso a day keeps the doctor away? Yes, as long as you do not suffer from any particular problems and do not exceed the dose of 300 milligrams of caffeine per day By Barbara Panterna* It is the Italians’ favourite drink by Italians, everyone considers it the best way to start the day. It’s an excellent energizing tonic to counteract daily difficulties and has become an essential ritual. To better enjoy the aroma it is drunk blackand unsweetened, or enlivened by a soft milk foam in the cappuccino . The most fashionable people take it with ginseng (a modern, highly energizing preparation, but too often with the addition of unhealthy substances such as milk cream or vegetable variants, sugars, chemical flavours, colourings and hydrogenated fats; it is better to choose the one for the mocha based on coffee and real dry extract of ginseng root). For the more nervous, for the hypertensive, the cardiopathic and for those who suffer from insomnia there is the decaffeinated version that can be obtained with various more or less healthy methods. Through the use of solvents (extracting the caffeine is now in disuse), with hot water and activated carbon (it is the most natural/healthy method but at the expense of taste), with carbon dioxide (now the most used in which the beans are treated with the steam of CO2 that extracts the caffeine), however, in all cases, there is always a low percentage of caffeine equal to 0.1% and therefore, even if it’s coffee decaf , consumed frequently during the day can be harmful to those prone to it. Before listing its properties and contraindications, I would like to give you some historical information on its origin. It is obtained by grinding the seeds of some species of small tropical trees belonging to the Rubiaceae family. Commercially, the different species are presented as different varieties, the most common being arabica and robusta . - Arabica: the seeds of this plant have a much lower caffeine content than other species, and it is the oldest. Originally from Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya and Yemen, the first historical traces of its consumption were in 1459. - Robusta: it is native to tropical Africa, between Uganda and Guinea; very adaptable, it grows even at altitudes below 700 m, therefore it’s easier to cultivate and, consequently, cheaper. Its consumption began later, in the nineteenth century. In Italy, however, it seems that the advent of coffee had Venice as its leading city, perhaps because of its trade relations with the Near East, since the sixteenth century, but the first shops were opened only in 1645. Today, the world’s largest producers are Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia and Indonesia, followed by Mexico, Guatemala, etc. The quality of coffee depends on the growing environment, the practices used in the culture, the type of processing of the berries and the place of origin. The ideal way to maintain it is to keep it in a tightly closed metal jar. PROPERTIES Already towards the end of the 16th century, botanists began to analyse the properties of this drink. The substances contained in it are different but the best known is the caffeine that has different properties, such as stimulant on gastric and bile secretion, (for this reason some say that it has digestive properties) on heart and nervous function, (for this reason it is used by many to combat fatigue), also seems to have a thermogenic effect that can stimulate the use of fat, it is anorexic if drunk often during the day. But in addition to caffeine, coffee contains acids such as tannic and chlorine genes with a potential beneficial effect (antioxidant and anti-inflammatory), which however seems to be insufficient to compensate for the risk arising from its high consumption, in fact it is not suitable for all, its apparent benefits can often turn into negative effects on people prone to particular illnesses, it is in fact not recommended for those suffering from gastric disorders (ulcer, gastritis, gastroesophageal reflux), those suffering from insomnia, flushing and heat (fever), hypertension o in anyone with heart diseases (e.g. arrhythmia/tachycardia). If you drink coffee for weight loss, remember that the lipolytic effect mentioned above is obviously cancelled out if you add sugar or milk, and it seems that an excessive dose can also interfere with the absorption of calcium and iron. So how much coffee should we drink? That’s a question my patients often ask me. 300