Decaf coffee is not caffeine-free

Just when you’re about to grab your fifth cup of decaf for the day, you’re jolted out of your seat by this piping hot news item: Decaf coffee has some caffeine (Philippine STAR, Oct. 13).

That’s according to a new University of Florida study which notes, in this month’s Journal of Analytical Toxicology, that the findings could affect people who are told to avoid caffeine because of certain medical conditions such as high blood pressure, kidney disease or anxiety disorders.

Says the study’s co-author Dr. Bruce Goldberger, "If someone drinks five to 10 cups of decaffeinated coffee a day, the dose of caffeine could easily reach the level in a cup or two of caffeinated coffee."

Likewise, a study conducted by the Fuqua Heart Center and Piedmont-Mercer Center for Health and Learning in Atlanta suggests that "drinking decaffeinated coffee may be even worse for heart health than regular." The study finds that "drinking three to six cups of decaf coffee a day can lead to a significant increase in apolipoprotein B levels (blood fat), which have been associated with higher levels of LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol."

Perhaps over cups of decaf coffee, authors of the study discovered that the potential increase in LDL seemed to occur only with decaf consumption of more than three cups a day.

And now, this warning comes pregnant with meaning: Pregnant women should limit their caffeine intake. (Caffeine can cause congenital abnormalities and low birth weight.)

A most well-known stimulant (as I write this, some people somewhere around the world are probably reaching out for a cup of java for their daily caffeine fix), there’s enough caffeine in 20 cups of coffee to kill. If we add all the cups of coffee we drink in four or five days, we’d be dead. But luckily, our body disposes of it, says Arnold E. Bender, author of the book Health or Hoax?

But it’s not just coffee that contains caffeine. It is also present in cocoa and chocolate products, cola drinks, and, yes, tea.

According to the Alcoholism & Drug Addiction Research Foundation, Toronto, Canada:

• In North America, the caffeine content of a cup of coffee averages about 75 mg, but varies widely according to cup size, the method of preparation, and the amount of coffee used. Generally, cups prepared from instant coffee contain less caffeine (average 65 mg) and cups prepared by drip methods contain more caffeine (average 110 mg).

• Cola drinks contain about 35 mg caffeine per standard 280 mL serving.

• A cup of hot chocolate contains about four mg caffeine while a 50-gram chocolate bar contains between five and 60 mg, increasing with the quality of the chocolate.

• Tea leaves contain about 3.5 percent caffeine, but a cup of tea usually contains less caffeine than a cup of coffee because much less tea than coffee is used during preparation.

• Caffeine is also an ingredient of certain headache pills (30-65 mg) and the main ingredient of non-prescription "stay-awake" pills.

On the plus side, adult asthma sufferers who drink real coffee (not decaf) regularly have 30 percent fewer attacks than do non-coffee drinkers, according to Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld in his book Doctor What Should I Eat? He pours out this fact: "Indeed, before the era of modern antiasthmatic medications, coffee was the treatment of choice for asthma. Its active ingredient, methylxanthine, dilates the bronchial tree by relaxing the muscles that go into spasm."

The good doctor prescribes, "So if you’ve left home without your medications and have an asthma attack, get hold of the drugs you need or seek medical attention. In the meantime, drink two cups of strong, brewed coffee. That will sometimes ease your symptoms within the hour and continue to protect you against recurrence for another six hours."

Coffee, tea or cola?

* * * DIY on disinfecting greens

Dear Consumerline,

Thank you for your timely article. I’m a lover of greens, too. Hereunder is a do-it-yourself method of disinfecting greens that I adopted while working in several developing countries.

1) Remove outer leaves to get rid of leaves heavily contaminated with pesticide.

2) Wash greens thoroughly in running water.  

3) Soak greens in solution of potassium permanganate (PP) and clean water for about 15 minutes.

4) Rinse greens thoroughly in clean running water.

5) Drain.  

I put just enough PP to turn the water bright red. I wonder if the solution kills on contact any bacteria so that the soaking time can be cut down to a minute or so. I also wonder if rinsing the greens in running water can remove recently sprayed pesticide.

PP is available in most dental supply stores and is still used by some dentists to disinfect the mouths of their patients after performing oral surgery.

Maybe you can get our Bureau of Food and Drugs Administration to comment on the above method or to suggest more effective methods for disinfecting greens.

– Ernesto Arevalo

142 Valero St., Makati

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