Recent studies conducted by Veronika Somoza, Ph.D. from the University of Vienna in Austria, and Thomas Hofmann, Ph.D. from the Technische Universität München in Germany indicate dark roasted coffee contain a substance that tells the stomach to reduce production of acid.
It is estimated that upwards of 40 million people in the United States avoid drinking coffee at all, or consume far less coffee to avoid stomach irritation. Doctors believe that chemicals in coffee cause the stomach to overproduce acid. Many people as a result drink only decaffeinated coffee or specialty roasts being marketed as stomach friendly. "The problem is that studies have not verified the stomach irritating potential of coffee or its components, until now," Somoza said. "Manufacturers currently make 'stomach friendly' coffees by processing raw coffee beans with steam or solvents intended to reduce levels of the irritants. But their effectiveness is unclear."
The manufacturing processes used to produce so-called "stomach-friendly coffee" also can reduce the amount of healthful substances in the coffee, including some that scientists have linked to benefits such as protection against diabetes and heart disease.
During the study the scientists exposed cultures of human stomach cells to a variety of different coffee preparations, including regular, dark-roast, mild, decaffeinated, and stomach-friendly varieties. Several substances were identified that were believed to trigger chemical changes associated with increased acid production. Among these substances were caffeine, catechols, and other ingredients.
"Our data show, for the first time, that caffeine, catechols and N-alkanoly-5-hydroxytryptamides are those coffee components that stimulate molecular mechanisms of stomach acid secretion in human stomach cells," Somoza said. Most of them are indeed removed by steam or solvent treatment of the raw coffee bean. We found out there's no single, key irritant. It is a mixture of compounds that seem to cause the irritant effect of coffee."
The research discovered that one of the coffee components, N-methylpyridium (NMP), seems to block the ability of the stomach cells to produce hydrochloric acid and could provide a way to reduce or avoid stomach irritation.
N-methylpyridium (NMP) appears able to block the ability of the stomach cells to produce hydrochloric acid. NMP is produced only upon roasting and is not found in raw coffee beans. Dark roasted coffee can potentially contain up to twice as much of NMP, but the levels vary greatly depending on the variety of coffee bean and the roasting method.
The researchers are testing different varieties of raw coffee beans and different roasting methods in an attempt to increase NMP levels to make a better stomach-friendly coffee.
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