5 Health Benefits of Cold Brew Coffee

Many of us are aspiring home baristas, self-confessed coffee nuts, and coffee snobs. If you are nodding your head in agreement while reading this, then you are part of the 62 percent of Americans who enjoy some variety of coffee-based drink every day.

But, did you know that cold brew coffee is rapidly becoming the drink of choice among many coffee fans and experts for its amazing taste and plethora of health benefits? Sales are growing yearly!

What Is Cold Brew?

It is neither hot, nor iced. Let’s be clear: cold brew is not the same drink as iced coffee. Iced coffee is simply regular coffee that is served over ice. It is not hot traditional coffee, either.

Instead of using hot water to draw out the flavour (and caffeine) from coffee beans, cold brew relies on a long steeping time of 12-24 hours. This method makes the drink less bitter than the traditional hot coffee process.

Health Benefits of Cold Brew Coffee

Most research has been completed on the health benefits of coffee that has been hot brewed. Cold brew is believed to offer similar results.

1. Easier on Digestion

Many people avoid coffee because of its high acid level, which may cause acid reflux. The good news? Cold brewed coffee has less acidity than its hot brewed counterpart. This not only makes it taste better, but some people find it is much easier on their stomachs and digestion. The acidity of coffee also tends to be blamed for other ailments, such as indigestion and heartburn.

Another reason why this beverage may be less irritating than hot coffee is because it contains crude polysaccharides. These types of carbohydrates boost the immunity of the digestive system. This may decrease gut irritation and the harsh effects of coffee’s acidity on your stomach.

Regularly drinking coffee could protect your stomach from ailments and boost the immunity of the digestive system!

Heart disease is a term for several different conditions that affects your heart, such as coronary artery disease, heart attack, and stroke. It is the number one cause of death worldwide.

Cold brew coffee contains compounds that may reduce your risk of heart disease. These compounds include caffeine, phenolic compounds, magnesium, trigonelline, quinides, and lignans. These increase insulin sensitivity, stabilize blood sugar, and lower blood pressure. Coffee also contains chlorogenic acids (CGAs) and diterpenes, which act as antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents.

Regularly drinking cold brew coffee could improve your heart health. Talk with a doctor or heart specialist to find out more.

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition in which blood sugar levels are too high. If left untreated, it can lead to serious health complications. Cold brew may reduce the risk of developing this disease. Drinking 4-6 cups of coffee a day is associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes (see stats, below). This may be due to the presence of chlorogenic acids, which are powerful antioxidants found in coffee.

Cold brew may also regulate gut peptides, which are hormones in the digestive system that control and slow digestion, keeping blood sugar stable.

Research done in over 36,900 people ages 45-74 found those who drank at least 4 cups of coffee per day had a 30% lower risk of type 2 diabetes than people who did not drink coffee daily.

Another review of 3 large studies of more than 1 million people found those who increased their coffee intake over 4 years had an 11% lower risk of type 2 diabetes, compared to a 17% higher risk in those who reduced their coffee intake by more than 1 cup per day.

Regularly drinking cold brew coffee may help keep your blood sugar stable and reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes.

Metabolism is the process in your body’s cells that change food into energy. Our bodies need energy to do everything from moving to thinking to growing. The higher your metabolic rate, the more calories you burn while at rest (not moving or exerting yourself). Cold brew coffee contains caffeine, which has been shown to increase your resting metabolic rate by up to 11%. Caffeine appears to boost metabolic rate by increasing how quickly your body burns fat.

In a study of 8 men, consuming caffeine led to a 13% increase in calorie burning and a double increase in fat burning.

Regularly drinking cold brew coffee can increase the number of calories you burn at rest, meaning it could be easier to lose or maintain weight.

Due to the extra-long steeping process (between 12 and 24 hours), cold brew’s coffee to water ratio is believed to be around 1:60. Traditional hot drip coffee’s ratio is around 1:20.

These are not hard-fast stats. There are several variables to consider:

• The coffee beans used in the cold brew
• The total time the coffee is steeped for
• How much additives (milk, cream, water, sweetener) used to dilute the brew

Many people like a little something in their coffee, especially in cold brew, as it typically is a strong flavoured drink. People usually dilute their cold brew coffee concentrate, which reduces the caffeine concentration.

Although cold brew is definitely high in caffeine levels, it does not necessarily mean that your homemade cold brew will give you the jitters in a caffeine overdose. But if you feel like you need to sharpen yourself up mentally or physically, you can customize a batch of cold brew made with beans of a high caffeine level to suit your needs.

The Bottom Line

The perks that scientists associate with cold brew, and coffee in general, of potentially reducing risk of diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson’s disease, uterine cancer, gout, as well as providing us with antioxidants should be enough to make you take notice!

If you suffer from any of the above-mentioned illnesses, learn more about how cold brew coffee can aid you in bettering your health. As always, recommendation of speaking with your doctor is encouraged.

Check out our products to see how making cold brew coffee at home can put you onto a healthy lifestyle.