Is Coffee to Blame for High Cholesterol?
- Julio C. Lopez, MS, CSCS
- 4 hours ago
- 5 min read
What’s better than a hot cup of coffee first thing in the morning? Exactly, absolutely nothing! It’s no secret that I love my coffee and so does the rest of the world with over 2 billion cups of coffee consumed daily worldwide. But, did you know that coffee might be increasing your levels of LDL cholesterol (aka bad cholesterol)?
With heart disease as the number one killer in the U.S. and coffee consumption as high as it is, the notion that coffee can contribute to elevating bad cholesterol levels should be alarming. Getting back into shape is a real challenge for most, and there are plenty of studies showing health benefits of drinking coffee, but the fact that some coffee compounds may be undoing said health benefits can be scary. However, it’s also important to know that I am not suggesting that you give up on drinking coffee because it is not all coffee that contributes to higher LDL cholesterol.
Understanding LDL Cholesterol
Cholesterol is made in your liver, then gets pumped throughout your body in the bloodstream. The main two types of cholesterol the body makes are low and high density lipoproteins (LDL and HDL), in which LDL cholesterol is considered as “bad” cholesterol and HDL cholesterol is “good” cholesterol. LDL cholesterol can stick to your arteries, which may increase blood pressure by clogging up said arteries, and can even cause a heart attack or stroke when blood can’t get through. A healthy diet that limits saturated fat and dietary cholesterol, along with abundant produce consumption can help control LDL levels, and boost HDL cholesterol, which can actively remove LDL cholesterol from sticking to arteries, thus reducing the chances of a heart attack or stroke.
Modes of Making Coffee
How does coffee raise bad cholesterol levels? It has a lot to do with the diterpenes cafestol and kahweol, which exist in coffee beans and end up in brewed coffee when using an unfiltered method. In other words, using a French Press, pour over, ceramic or metal or glass filters, or Turkish coffee are all considered “unfiltered”. In a 2000 study published by the Journal of Internal Medicine (De Roos et al., 2000), researchers found a link between increased LDL cholesterol and cafestol and kahweol.
The method of brewing the coffee you drink plays a major role on the potential risk of increasing your LDL cholesterol. While I love my French Press, it doesn’t do a good enough job to filter out the diterpenes (cafestol and kahweol) that contribute to a rise in LDL cholesterol. In contrast, using a filter, just as you would with a conventional coffeemaker or Chemex, this does remove those compounds; therefore, you’re not going to see elevated bad cholesterol levels with filtered coffee.
Did you know that the amount of unfiltered coffee you drink plays a big role in determining whether or not it is going to increase your LDL cholesterol? The common misconception about health and nutrition is that the only way to fully be in good health is to do everything absolutely perfectly. In reality, while adopting a healthy lifestyle and diet that includes a wide variety of lean meats and produce in what you eat, along with drinking plenty of water, you can still indulge in the things that are “not so healthy”, if and only if it is done modestly. When it comes to unfiltered coffee, three cups of unfiltered coffee or less (such as Turkish coffee, from a French press, or pour over), you’re going to be okay and don’t have to be too concerned about increasing your LDL cholesterol because of the coffee.
What You Put In Your Coffee
Besides diterpenes like cafestol and kahweol in unfiltered coffee posing a risk in elevating your LDL cholesterol, you also have to consider everything else that you put into your coffee. Coffee cream and half-and-half are popular for those that like coffee, but find black coffee too bitter to enjoy. As always, with moderation (that is just one serving per cup of coffee and less than four cups per day), you have nothing to worry about, but if you use more creamer than that and/or drink more coffee than that, the sugar and saturated fat in the creamer adds up, which could throw off your health goals.
Sweetened coffees are popular in coffee shops across America, from the large chains like Starbucks and Dutch Bros to the small, locally owned cafes. Of course, while I admit they taste amazing, they also come with a lot of sugar and saturated fat. For example, the Dutch Bros blended drink, Campin’ Freeze, the large cup contains 1000 calories, with 105 mg cholesterol, 23 mg saturated fat, and 142 g of sugar — and that’s just one cup! If you only have these kinds of coffee beverages once a month, you’ll be okay, but if you have 2 or more each week, this might be a contributing factor to troubling numbers when you get your bloodwork.
For the bros out there that like drinking bulletproof coffee, in which MCT oil and grass-fed butter are added, how much you’re adding to your coffee and how many cups you’re drinking like that can play a big role in your triglycerides and LDL cholesterol. MCT oil is basically coconut oil, which, like butter, is largely comprised of saturated fat. Coconut oil and butter have about the same amount of saturated fat per tablespoon, approximately 12 g, and since the recipe for bulletproof coffee calls for 1-2 tablespoons of each ingredient, that’s 24-48 g of saturated fat per cup. If you’re trying to abide by the American Heart Association guidelines for daily saturated fat consumption, just one cup already has you almost doubling the daily recommendation of 13 g saturated fat per day.
Conclusion
While coffee from a French press, pour over, or Turkish coffee contain higher levels of cafestol and kahweol, which can produce a rise in LDL cholesterol, when compared to using a filter from a conventional coffeemaker or Chemex, this doesn’t mean you can no longer enjoy unfiltered coffee altogether. While cafestol and kahweol are the compounds that can raise your bad cholesterol, they also have been found to carry anti-inflammation, anti-diabetic and anti-cancer properties. Therefore, if you drink a lot of coffee (4 or more cups a day), limiting unfiltered coffee to 1 or 2 cups a day, it’s not going to impact your LDL cholesterol and may be doing your overall health a big favor.
About the Author
Julio Lopez is a Navy Veteran, former collegiate athlete, and personal trainer with a Master’s degree in Nutrition. He is the founder of 365 Physique Personal Training and Nutrition, where he specializes in helping busy people build a healthy lifestyle into their schedule. You can find Julio training his in-person clients at Versatile Fitness in east El Paso, Texas and sharing practical tips on social media.
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De Roos, B., Van Tol, A., Urgert, R., Scheek, L. M., Van Gent, T., Buytenhek, R., Princen, H. M.,
& Katan, M. B. (2000). Consumption of French-press coffee raises cholesteryl ester
transfer protein activity levels before LDL cholesterol in normolipidaemic subjects.
Journal of Internal Medicine, 248(3), 211–216.
Ren, Y., Wang, C., Xu, J., & Wang, S. (2019). Cafestol and kahweol: A review on their
bioactivities and pharmacological properties. International Journal of Molecular
Sciences, 20(17), 4238.
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