Decaf - Some Basic Information to Think About When Choosing Coffee
By Sveinung Skoglund
Decaf, or decaf coffee, is coffee that contains less caffeine than regular coffee. Caffeine was largely linked to heart diseases in the past, but results from studies that were released in 2005 revealed that drinking decaf coffee may actually increase the LDL cholesterol levels in the blood.
Caffeine's effect on the body depends on a number of factors including use of some medications, a person's liver health and others. Caffeine is said to increase heat beat and respiration. This is why people with heart diseases are advised to steer clear of caffeinated drinks. However there is no evidence to conclude that caffeine consumption can lead to heart diseases. Ulcers were also once linked to caffeine consumption but tests proved that both caffeinated and decaf coffee aggravated ulcers.
Caffeine is absorbed by the body through the stomach and intestines. It has effect on the body when it is still in the blood stream. The coffee is processed by the liver and eventually secreted in the urine.
Caffeine can be harmful when there is overdose. Caffeine overdose can lead to headache, nausea, and sleeplessness. Extreme consumption can lead to delirium, light flashes and ringing in the ears. People who are used to having a certain level of caffeine in the blood often find it difficult to reduce their caffeine intake. People reducing caffeine consumption experiences a drop in blood pressure. This can lead to headache. Others experience irritability and restlessness.
Decaffeination of coffee is the process of removing caffeine from the green coffee beans. In Europe the standard for decaffeinated coffee is the removal if 99.9% of the caffeine but for other regions a 97% elimination of the caffeine is enough. The process involves steaming the beans and rinsing them in a solvent 8-12 times. There are 400 chemical compounds in coffee and decaffeination somehow affects the chemical composition of the coffee even if it tries hard to remove only the caffeine and retain much of its chemical make-up.
There are different ways of decaffeinating coffee. One method was invented by the Swiss Water Decaffeinated Company. In this process coffee is soaked in hot water releasing the coffee's caffeine. After the caffeine and the coffee are released onto the water, the water is filtered with carbon. The caffeine molecules stick to the carbon leaving "decaffeinated water". Coffee beans are added to the decaffeinated water and the process of soaking the beans and decaffeinating it is repeated only this time the beans will not break because only the caffeine is released in the water. Another method involves using methylene chloride or ethyl acetate as solvent to extract the caffeine.
The very first successful decaffeination happened in 1903 in a process created by Ludwg Roselius and Karl Wimmers. The process involved using benzene to remove the caffeine in the coffee beans. Benzene is no longer used as a solvent for decaffeination.
The author has been writing online articles since 2006 as well as publishing websites on a number of topics since 2004. Check out the latest website at http://gaggiacoffeemaker.com which helps people find the best Gaggia coffee maker deals as well as the information they might be searching for before purchasing a Gaggia Coffee Maker.
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