Posted on 03/24/2025 12:06:42 PM PDT by Red Badger
A Swedish study found that workplace coffee machines often leave in high levels of cholesterol-raising compounds, unlike drip-filter machines which remove most of them.
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Coffee from workplace machines might be raising your cholesterol more than you think.
A new Swedish study reveals that many common office coffee machines fail to filter out cholesterol-elevating compounds found in coffee, sometimes leaving behind even more than espresso or French press. Depending on the machine and brewing method, the amount of harmful diterpenes like cafestol and kahweol can vary widely, and frequent coffee drinkers may be unknowingly boosting their LDL cholesterol levels.
Cholesterol-Raising Compounds in Workplace Coffee
A new study led by researchers at Uppsala University, in collaboration with Chalmers University of Technology, has found that some workplace coffee machines produce coffee with significantly higher levels of cholesterol-raising compounds. The findings are published in the journal Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases.
“Considering how much coffee is consumed in Swedish workplaces, we wanted to get a picture of the content of cholesterol-elevating substances in coffee from these types of machines. We studied fourteen coffee machines and could see that the levels of these substances are much higher in coffee from these machines than from regular drip-filter coffee makers,” says David Iggman, researcher at Uppsala University, who led the study.
“From this we infer that the filtering process is crucial for the presence of these cholesterol-elevating substances in coffee. Obviously, not all coffee machines manage to filter them out. But the problem varies between different types of coffee machines, and the concentrations also showed large variations over time,” Iggman continued.
Cafestol per Cup Coffee Chart
The bars indicate milligrams of cafestol per cup for the volumes 60 ml (espresso), 137.5 ml (coffee machines) and 150 ml (all others). Two samples were taken from the coffee machines 2-3 weeks apart and the dots in the bars represent average values between the two measurement occasions for each machine. Credit: David Iggman
First Study on Office Coffee Machines
It’s already well known that boiled coffee contains high levels of the cholesterol-raising diterpenes cafestol and kahweol. A fact acknowledged in the latest Nordic nutrition guidelines, which recommend limiting boiled coffee. In contrast, drip-filter coffee makers that use paper filters are highly effective at removing these substances.
How well conventional coffee machines, which are found in public environments such as workplaces, filter out these substances had not been investigated up until now. In the study, the researchers studied fourteen coffee machines in break rooms at different workplaces. The coffee used was five regular brands of ground coffee. They took samples from the coffee made by the machines on a number of separate occasions and analyzed the contents. There was a big difference between the machines in terms of the levels of cafestol and kahweol in the coffee they made, but the levels could also differ at different times.
Brewing Machines Showed the Most Risk
The most common type of coffee machine, in the study called a brewing machine, is the one that produced coffee with the highest concentrations of diterpenes. In comparative analyses, the researchers investigated peculator coffee, espresso, French press coffee, boiled coffee, and boiled coffee poured through a fabric filter. The boiled coffee contained the highest levels of diterpenes per cup. Some espresso samples also contained high levels, but there was great variation.
Filtered Coffee Still the Best Bet
“Most of the coffee samples contained levels that could feasibly affect the levels of LDL cholesterol of people who drank the coffee, as well as their future risk of cardiovascular disease. For people who drink a lot of coffee every day, it’s clear that drip-filter coffee, or other well-filtered coffee, is preferable. To determine the precise effects on LDL cholesterol levels, we would need to conduct a controlled study of subjects who would drink the coffee,” says David Iggman.
Facts in Brief
Two samples were taken from each machine every two to three weeks. The coffee varieties included medium roast and dark roast of five common brands of ground coffee. Most of the machines use ground coffee. One or two grind the beans in the machine, but the researchers don’t think that would have any effect on the levels of diterpenes.
We tested 14 machines, including 11 brewing machines and 3 liquid-model machines (lower levels, mixed from a coffee concentrate). For comparison, the same analysis was carried out with some other coffee-making methods such as percolator, French press, boiled coffee, and boiled coffee poured through a fabric filter. In addition, four espresso samples were collected in Gothenburg.
All the coffee samples were analysed at Chalmers University of Technology. The samples were collected by medical student Erik Orrje during spring 2024.
Reference:
“Cafestol and kahweol concentrations in workplace machine coffee compared with conventional brewing methods”
by Erik Orrje, Rikard Fristedt, Fredrik Rosqvist, Rikard Landberg and David Iggman, 20 February 2025, Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases.
DOI: 10.1016/j.numecd.2025.103933
They had keurig machines where I worked before I retired a few years ago. It’s all I use at home as well. But regarding the machine in my mancave/shop building, I use the refillable filter and only use Kirkland brand “Columbian” coffee.
I have no idea where that falls on the list. It’s certainly not cowboy coffee (boiled).
The coffee machine that supplies the whole office with brewed coffee, likely isn’t regularly cleaned because the people who use it are too lazy to clean it. Before I retired in 2003, we had a Bunn industrial coffee machine that had been there since the beginning of time. Nobody ever bothered to clean it, and the crap that came out of it was like sludge. I never drank the crap.
You’ll have to pry my Keurig from my cold, dead hands.
On the sub, the new electricians first unsupervised was to clean the mess coffee machine.
Yuk!
The purchasing heifer where I used to work purchased the worst commercial coffee on the planet. It’s free, what are you complaining about? Well if it didn’t taste like road tar, that would be a plus. Geez I do not miss that place.
I guess we’ll see soon - I have a physical scheduled tomorrow. Will be the first time I’ve had blood-work in a L-O-N-G time, and then my total cholesterol was a pretty-low 156. My brewer of choice these days is a Jura Impressa F9 super-automatic machine. It grinds, pressure brews, and filters only thru a fine metal screen. Probably better in this study than a French Press or Cowboy Coffee (boiled), but that might be about it.
I wonder how bad a Keurig might be, with the brewing occurring in a plastic container of pre-ground coffee?
I like the ease of the Keurig, but I prefer the taste of French pressed coffee or the Mr. Coffee type machine. On the weekends, hubby makes us the pour over type. My problem is I don’t like to make calculations before I’m fully awake. This is why the Keurig is so handy. I only have to press a few buttons, and out it comes!
I am interested in this, though. High cholesterol is my only health problem. Everything else is great. I’m quite certain it’s hereditary for me.
>>> I’m quite certain it’s hereditary for me.<<<
Me too!..................
“isn’t regularly cleaned because the people who use it are too lazy to clean it”
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In some workplace settings cleaning the coffee maker is absolute blasphemy and I’ll give you an example.
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I worked in the DoD around mostly retired and some active duty Navy and Marines.....I learned early on that tampering with the coffee maker would unlock swift retribution......and don’t get me started on messing with their coffee mugs......people have vanished from the face of the earth without a trace over that one. 😏
“A new Swedish study reveals that many common office coffee machines fail to filter out cholesterol-elevating compounds found in coffee, sometimes leaving behind even more than espresso “
and yet the chart shows espresso 2nd worse only to boiled coffee ... [though no explanation of why some bars are gray and some are solid black ...]
overall, i can’t really tell heads nor tails about this “study”, esp. since the number of machines tested and the number of samples was so minuscule ... btw, i wonder if the “researchers” drank the samples?
Did I ever tell you what I did to a Staff Sergeant’s coffee mug?...............
“Geez I do not miss that place”
A few years after I retired from working at the same facility for 30 years, my wife and I had occasion to drive past it one day......as we drove by and knowing what I was probably thinking she asked me “do you miss it?”
My response was, I DON’T miss a hell of a lot more than I DO miss..people OR work...and it’s not even close. 😏
No.....and I’m surprised you lived to tell about it. 😏
Did USAID monies pay for this Swiss study?
Who does that to sweet innocent coffee that only wants to help you do stupid things faster?
“To determine the precise effects on LDL cholesterol levels, we would need to conduct a controlled study of subjects who would drink the coffee,”
A major problem with this study is any serious link between the compounds measured and heart disease.
The only link mentioned is:
“It’s already well known that boiled coffee contains high levels of the cholesterol-raising diterpenes cafestol and kahweol”.
How much is the cholesterol level raised?
Does raising the cholesterol level have any significant effect on heart disease?
The chain of causation in this study is very weak.
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