Does a good coffee make your day? Are you also someone who sips on the first cup of coffee in the office? Well, then you have some tweaking to do here. Your machine coffee may not be the best answer to your woes; it may be the problem and not the solution. A recent report finds that office coffee machines may be a contributor to your bad cholesterol, i.e., low-density lipoprotein (LDL).

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A study published by Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases, looked at coffee served in Swedish workplaces and at home. It stated, "Coffee samples were collected from Swedish workplaces and compared with home-made coffee brews. Concentrations of cafestol and kahweol were measured by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry."

There were some startling results: "Most coffees from workplace brewing machines contain higher diterpene concentrations than paper-filtered coffee but lower than unfiltered coffee. Intake of insufficiently filtered coffee during working hours could be an overlooked factor for cardiovascular health due to its effect on plasma cholesterol concentrations."

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LDL cholesterol is associated with bad cardiovascular health as it forms plaque in the heart. One such component found in coffee samples collected was leading to increased LDL. The reason is that the machines used metal filters and not paper. This leads to elevated cafestol levels of 176 mg/L, which is higher than the 12 mg/L found in traditional paper-filtered coffee.

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The team found, "Unfiltered coffee brews have been reported to contain high cafestol concentrations, whereas brews using metal filters have reported intermediate concentrations, e.g., espresso and moka, or plungers, e.g., French press. Based on the concentrations of cafestol and kahweol in the investigated machine coffees, thoroughly filtered coffee seems like the preferable choice for cardiovascular health. Accordingly, filtered coffee should be preferred, also in workplace settings."

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All in all, learn more about the coffee brewing process and limit your intake.