Good Espresso to High Cholesterol

If you have a serious grande-cappuccino habit – and tend to have high cholesterol levels – you may want to switch brews. The oil in coffee beans (both regular and decaf) contains cafestol, a potent cholesterol booster. Paper filters absorb almost all the compound, but oil drops can pass through metal filters, so espresso, French press coffee, and brews made with permanent gold filter all contain cafestol (an average of 2 to 2.6 milligrams per ounces of coffee or 1 to 2 ounces of espresso). In studies, consuming 10 milligrams of cafestol daily for four weeks raised people’s cholesterol by a scary 8 to 10 percent. Bottom line: you don’t have to worry if you drink is a cup or two of coffee for breakfast (even if your cup is a mug). But if you routinely chugalug several big containers of non-paper-filter java, including French press style, cappuccinos, and lattes or several cups of espresso and you’ve been told to watch your cholesterol, switch to a paper drip. Or learn to love tea.