Can You Eat Coffee Beans?

Coffee consumption is a habit that many of us enjoy and that also has multiple benefits for the body. We usually consume a good cup of coffee every morning or perhaps as a companion for a dessert in the afternoon.

Generally, we call "coffee" the drink that we prepare with the roasted and then ground seeds of the coffee plant, its caffeine content makes it a highly stimulating drink par excellence. It is also consumed around the world, some prefer it after meals or during breakfast, but it is also a drink consumed during the day in homes, offices and on the street, making it one of the most popular non-alcoholic beverages.

Coffee is produced in tropical and subtropical areas, making it an important source of income for producing countries. The coffee industry can produce up to 8.7 million tons per year and its industry generates about 173 billion dollars per year, not to mention that it is an industry that generates jobs in the short, medium and long term.

This majestic drink can be consumed alone or accompanied by milk, cream, chocolate, liquor, ice or other additives. It can be drunk with or without sweetening. In addition, there are many preparations, which vary in the amount of liquid, concentration or mechanism used to prepare it that can go from the use of a French coffee maker to an espresso machine.

While it is said that excess coffee consumption could be harmful, coffee in moderate amounts has many health benefits. Even experts recommend that you should not drink more than three cups a day.

On the other hand, some prefer to eat coffee beans, although their bitter taste is too strong for some, others prefer to consume them dipped in chocolate. This practice is becoming more and more common but can you eat coffee beans, the answer is yes.

Eating coffee beans has the same or even greater effects on the body than drinking liquid coffee. For example, it is able to eliminate bad breath and give you extra energy so that your performance during the day is at its best. That said, here are some of the benefits of consuming this delicacy.

Benefits of eating coffee beans

1. Helps prevent Alzheimer's disease.

As our age increases, our body notices the passage of time and our brain does too. In many cases, we suffer from Alzheimer's disease. However, there are studies that support the theory that caffeine significantly reduces the risk of this terrible disease.

A laboratory study using genetically modified rats even concluded that rats that consumed a daily dose of pure caffeine were less likely to suffer from the disease. This supports the theory that consuming coffee beans will help you to avoid this disease.

2. Coffee is effective against Parkinson's disease

Another disease linked to aging is Parkinson's. Studies have also shown that 35mg of coffee beans a day is enough to improve its symptoms.

3. It improves the alert state when performing any activity.

For anyone with a full-time job, caffeine is without a doubt their greatest ally. It helps to maintain the state of alert during more time and also to maintain the proactivity. Remember that you should not fall into excesses so a small portion of coffee beans will be more than enough.

4. Fight against migraine

Migraine can be a very uncomfortable and unpleasant condition. Migraine sufferers seek only immediate relief from their symptoms, with the headache as the most prominent. Nowadays there are a great number of alternatives in the market whose composition has a high dose of caffeine because it has been demonstrated that coffee works as a vasodilator, improving the circulation and thus decreasing the headache.

5. It improves the performance of athletes.

Caffeine is an excellent support for sportsmen, and the amount of 3 mg/Kg is recommended, which means approximately two cups for those who consume it in liquid form and a small portion of grains. This provides energy and at the same time improves performance when performing any sport, especially those that require maximum effort for short periods of time such as swimming or athletics.

6. Consuming coffee beans is good even for those who don't drink coffee

Eating coffee beans can help you improve your job performance. Studies show that high levels of caffeine make you more alert during the workday and also reduce the number of accidents at work because the reaction time is shorter.

7. Other benefits of consuming coffee beans

If you make a habit of chewing coffee beans then you will appreciate even more benefits every day.

• Energy in the morning: you can decide to chew them alone or covered with chocolate, however, if you have not slept very well and you want to recover your energy instantly, grind some coffee beans together with a few cardamom seeds, prepare it like a normal coffee but take it without milk. You'll feel an energy boost that will help you get through the day to the fullest.
• Fight bad breath after eating garlic: Garlic and onions are very healthy and delicious and worth consuming often. The only drawback is that it can affect your breath considerably. The solution to this is to slowly chew a coffee bean
• Diuretic and digestive effect: Coffee contains theophylline, a compound that makes it a powerful diuretic. The prudent consumption of this drink or its grains, therefore, helps to combat fluid retention. It also considerably improves digestion. However, care must be taken if you suffer from gastritis or a delicate stomach.
• Low tension: coffee also stands out for its positive effects on those who suffer from heart disease. In case you have low tension, you can momentarily relieve the discomfort it produces (dizziness, weakness, apathy) with a cup of coffee or by chewing some beans. What is not recommended is to abuse this method since excessive consumption can be counterproductive.
• Improves intellectual performance: The moderate consumption of coffee not only avoids muscular fatigue and strengthens physical capacity. It is also very useful to increase reflexes, keep us in a state of alert and also considerably increase intellectual performance. A small portion is enough for a good performance in a study session of 5 to 6 hours.

Dangers or disadvantages of coffee bean consumption.

We must remember that anything consumed in excess, no matter how healthy, can be harmful to our health and put our body at risk. No matter how delicious the coffee beans are, if we consume more than the recommended amount per day we could have some adverse effects:

• Significant changes in sleep patterns.
• Auditory hallucinations.
• It increases the blood pressure which can produce tachycardia and also increases the possibility of suffering a heart attack.
• It raises the stress level because it stimulates the adrenal glands.
• It increases the chances of suffering from vascular diseases.
• Can cause headaches
• It causes breathing difficulty as it can contract the bronchial tubes.
• It causes gastritis and diarrhea.
• Increases the risk of osteopenia and aggravates a condition of osteoporosis
• Makes it difficult to absorb certain minerals and vitamins such as B and C, as well as calcium, magnesium, zinc and iron
• It increases the risk of breast and digestive cancer.
• Increases glucose curve disorders in diabetics, causing them to require more insulin to compensate for the increase in blood sugar
• Stains teeth and causes bad breath.
• Excessive caffeine consumption can be harmful to some men by causing sterility through reduced sperm count levels. It is also thought to cause faulty sperm.

Effects of coffee beans on the Body

Although it has some adverse effects, coffee also contains a number of antioxidants and plant chemicals that give it its characteristic bitterness and smell, as well as health properties. Consuming the proper amount can have very positive effects on the body.

Waist

Eating coffee beans in moderation may help you lose weight. In addition to being a virtually calorie-free food, coffee can act as a mild appetite suppressant. This can help you lose a good amount of weight and reduce your measurements since it accelerates the speed at which the body burns fat. This is due to chlorogenic acid, a compound in coffee.

Heart

Moderate coffee consumption can help you avoid heart disease. Just a cup of coffee or a small portion of beans a day can increase your heart rate. It can also cause arteries to constrict, which tends to increase blood pressure, explains Dr. Graham Jackson, consultant cardiologist for Guy and St. Thomas 'NHS Foundation Trust.

Scientists in South Korea say that men and women who drink moderate amounts of coffee are less likely to have high levels of calcium in their arteries - an early indicator of blocked arteries - although the cause is not clear.

However, for those who have a heart condition such as failure, coffee consumption is not recommended in any presentation.

Bowel

The consumption of coffee as the first food of the day stimulates and increases contractions in the intestine, which pushes the waste faster than normal, making us want to go to the bathroom.

This also means that nutrients have less time to be absorbed as they pass through the digestive tract, which could be detrimental to health especially if a healthy, balanced diet is not being consumed. This also makes the absorption of iron more difficult.

Coffee should be avoided on an empty stomach as it can affect stomach acid production and cause gastritis.

Bones

Drinking too much coffee may increase the risk of osteoporosis, because it can accelerate bone loss. Because excess coffee can prevent minerals such as calcium and iron from being properly absorbed, it can also compromise factors involved in bone regeneration.

In addition, coffee can also stain the teeth, but according to experts this only happens if you drink more than three cups a day, which is the maximum amount of coffee per day. If consumed in beans the risk is the same but experts say that a good brushing technique along with a good whitening cream are more than enough.

Brain

Both caffeine and antioxidants have been shown to significantly reduce inflammation in the brain and may slow down the deterioration of brain cells, especially those in areas of the brain associated with memory. Experts say that moderate coffee consumption can reduce the risk of brain disease by 20%.

In addition, consuming coffee beans during a study night can increase our learning capacity because it stimulates our brain.

Kidneys

Coffee beans or liquid stimulates the kidneys to excrete more fluid, which helps with urination. If your kidneys are healthy, this is normal, but studies show that consuming coffee on the regular can make worsen some kidney diseases, especially obstructive ones. This is why if you had or have a history of having kidney stones, coffee consumption should be minimized because it increases calcium deposits in the kidneys.

Skin

Although caffeine normally has a dehydrating effect on the body, it is rare for the skin to show effects of this dehydration. Recent studies done in London state that moderate consumption of coffee beans or a cup of liquid coffee a day, can reduce the risk of skin cancer thanks to its antioxidants.

On the other hand, a study published in 2005 found that people who drank more coffee were less prone to malignant melanoma.

Type 2 Diabetes

There are a lot of studies that suggest that drinking a lot of coffee is linked to having a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. A recent U.S. study found that those who drank an average of three cups of coffee a day had a lower risk of diabetes. While the causes aren't clear yet, it seems that the reason is antioxidants and other nutrients present in the coffee.

Muscles

Drinking coffee might be a great energizer for your muscles.

Caffeine seems to help your muscles start burning fat for energy, once the energy from the carbohydrates has been used up. Caffeine is also a natural airway opener; it has a similar chemical structure to a compound used to treat asthma called theophylline.

Fatigue and Sleep

Coffee is very effective in increasing your blood pressure and heart rate, which provides an explosion of energy in the body.

Caffeine is also a great dopamine releaser, a hormone associated with pleasure and addiction, that provokes a temporary feeling of contentment. Its highest concentration in the blood and brain occurs within 30-40 minutes of ingestion. It takes about three to six hours for caffeine levels to drop.

That's why if you want a pleasant and restful night's sleep, you should avoid coffee in the four to six hours before going to bed

Caffeine also blocks the release of melatonin, the so-called sleep hormone. Coffee also interferes with a brain chemical, adenosine, which normally slows down the nerve cells in the brain, causing us to become drowsy.

If you think you drink too much coffee, don't ignore the issue, as you may suffer from unpleasant withdrawal symptoms.