Did You Know…that a certain kind of coffee may promote heart health and a longer life?
A groundbreaking study shows that to reap the most potent heart-health and long-life rewards of coffee, you should opt for super-powered Greek coffee.
A recent study published in Vascular Medicine featured elderly residents from the Greek island Ikaria. Those who drank boiled Greek coffee daily had better overall cardiovascular health. That’s saying a lot when it comes to Ikaria, where people live well past 90 far more often than they do elsewhere in the world.
The Greek Secret
Two things make Greek coffee superior: its concentration and preparation, both of which deliver more of coffee’s known protective compounds directly into your cup.
First, Greek coffee is not brewed, but boiled, an ancient method developed in Yemen long before filtering was ever used. Not only does boiling coffee create a rich, creamy foam called kaimaki (kaee-MAH-kee), it also extracts far more nutrients from the coffee beans than filtering does.
Second, Greek coffee is made from Arabica coffee beans ground extra fine. The result is more concentrated antioxidants and less caffeine per ounce than typical American coffee.
Because of these distinctions, Greek coffee is richer in the heart-healthy compounds coffee is known for: chlorogenic acid, polyphenols, and other lipid-soluble substances.
Greek coffee has been shown to…
Protect your arteries
Decrease your risk for diabetes
Improve overall immune health
Protecting Women’s Hearts
In the Ikaria study, those who drank Greek coffee had healthier blood vessels. In addition, the researchers discovered that Greek coffee protects against endothelial cell dysfunction. This is a specific type of heart disease that affects the endothelial cells that line your blood vessels, and it’s on the rise. Worse yet, it’s especially deadly for women.
When the endothelial cells become inflamed, arterial plaque can latch on and build up inside your blood vessels, eventually triggering a heart attack.
Greek coffee’s super-concentrated heart-protective nutrients quell inflammation in the vessels and the endothelial layer. Blood flows more freely and plaque buildup is prevented.
Coffee is an important part of Greek culture. Ikarians consume about 3 to 5 small demitasse cups a day. Each Greek serving contains about 100 mg of caffeine—about the amount you’d get in a cup and a half of American coffee.Making your own Greek coffee is easy and inexpensive. You can use a small saucepan or splurge on a Greek coffee pot, called a briki (BREE-kee) pot, for about $10 online or at a Greek specialty store, where you can also find Greek coffee. Or you can opt to use espresso or another super fine grind of Arabica coffee beans. Demitasse cups are widely available, as are brewing instructions. Ultimately, as with any other brew, you will likely experiment until you find the exact method that produces your perfect cup of heart-healthy coffee! |
