Coffee article Health
Is Dark or Light Roast Coffee Healthiest?
Every cup of coffee is unique. Why? Because people have different tastes, preparations and
styles in drinking coffee. Coffee lovers know that coffee beans are not created equal. There are
different blends, different origins and different roasts. If you visit coffee shops, you will also be
acquainted with the different types of coffee beans harvested around the world.
People drink coffee for its taste and the caffeine. In the United States, over half of its population
cannot live through the day without drinking at least a cup of coffee. It can be a form of habit or
a love affair with this bittersweet drink.
Among coffee drinkers, it is not an issue whether is kind of coffee is healthy or not. However,
coffee has become a subject of several medical research and studies. Experts have speculated
on whether coffee is really healthy or unhealthy.
Several questions regarding coffee had surfaced. People were asking whether coffee can cause
dehydration, heartburn, high cholesterol and constipation. Aside from confirming that coffee
does not cause any of the mentioned health problem, it turns out that coffee is actually
beneficial in preventing risks of some cancers, liver disease, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and
kidney stones.
While these studies have established the fact that coffee is healthy, people are still curious
whether the type of coffee roast has an effect on our health.
Why become interested? People have more access to information today. With the wealth of
data available, people become more curious and they want to find out more.
So, let’s answer the question: is dark or light roast the healthiest?
Dark roast vs light roast – how is it done?
Coffee beans are roasted in different ways. These methods yield different kinds of coffee so you
can enjoy a different cup depending on your mood.
Coffee Crossroads provided a guide to know how coffee is roasted and what is needed to get
light, medium and dark roast coffee beans.
Coffee roast provides a baseline guide to determine the aroma and taste of your cup of coffee.
Even coffee beans from the same field can yield different taste when roasted differently. ). The
age of the coffee, the processing method, the grind, and the brewing method will also affect the
taste. However, it is the coffee roast that gives the basic idea.
Coffee roast is subjective. People, depending on their location, enjoy different kinds of roast. In
the United States, residents on the West Coast have traditionally preferred darker roasts than
those on the East Coast. Europeans have also favored dark roasts, lending their names to the
so-called French, Italian, and Spanish roasts that dominate the darker end of the roasting
spectrum.
There are no standard roast names and descriptions in the coffee industry. In the case of
Starbucks, they have a Starbucks Roast Spectrum ™ to categorize coffees within three roast
profiles: Starbucks® Blonde Roast (for light roast like its Veranda Blend™), Starbucks® Medium
Roast and Starbucks® Dark Roast. California-based roaster Rogers Family Company, on the
other hand, has five roasting levels ranging from medium to extra dark. (Its San Francisco Bay
Fog Chaser blend, for example, is a Full City medium roast coffee.)
Light Roasts
Light roast has a light brown color and light taste. No oil is present on the surface of the beans.
It tastes more acidic because most caffeine and antioxidants are retained.
Light roasted beans generally reach an internal temperature of 180°C – 205°C (356°F – 401°F).
At or around 205°C, the beans pop or crack and expand in size. This is known as the “first
crack”. So a light roast generally means a coffee that has not been roasted beyond the first
crack.
Medium Roasts
Medium roasted coffees have medium brown color with a bolder taste than light roasts. Like the
lighter roasts, they have no oil on the bean surfaces. However, medium roasts lack the grainy
taste of the light roasts, exhibiting more balanced flavor, aroma, and acidity. Caffeine is
somewhat decreased, but there is more caffeine than in darker roasts.
Medium roasts reach internal temperatures between 210°C (410°F) and 220°C (428°F) —
between the end of the first crack and just before the beginning of the second crack.
Dark Roasts
Dark roasted coffees exhibit dark brown color, similar to chocolate or somewhat black. You will
will notice an oil sheen on the surface. This is more evident when you brew a dark roast coffee.
The roasting process decreases the coffee’s origin flavor. It will have a smoky, bitter taste when
brewed. Dark roast contain the least amount of caffeine.
To reach the level of a dark roast, coffee beans are roasted to an internal temperature of 240°C
(464°F) — about the end of the second crack — or beyond. They are seldom roasted to a
temperature exceeding 250°C (482°F), at which point the body of the beans is thin and the taste
is characterized by flavors of tar and charcoal.
Light or dark roast, which is healthier?
In a new study published in the Journal of Medicinal Food, Korean researchers found that light
roast is healthier than dark roast. Light roast coffee retains much of the chlorogenic acid present
in coffee beans. This compound is known to have anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties
that help prevent several diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes, some cancer and
heart problems.
Inflammation is one of the leading causes of chronic diseases. If light roast coffee can preserve
most of its chloregenic acid in its coffee beans, drinkers can maximize the consumption of this
anti-inflammatory compound.
“People drink coffee for flavor and for caffeine and for many other reasons, and many people
won’t even want to start their day without it,” Sampath Parthasarathy, PhD, interim associate
dean at the University of Central Florida School of Medicine and Journal of Medicinal Food
editor-in-chief, said. “Most people don’t consider antioxidants or anti-inflammatory properties,
but this study brings to light that the benefits of coffee—especially certain types of coffee—may
be beyond what most people think.”
In another study, new research in Molecular Nutrition & Food Research found that dark roast
coffee had better benefits because it restored blood levels of the antioxidants vitamin E and
glutathione more effectively than light roast coffee. The dark roast also led to a significant body
weight reduction in pre-obese volunteers, whereas the light roast did not.
Conflicting findings?
At first glance, it may seem that these studies are conflicting. However, both studies are pointing
out both healthy aspects of the each kind of roast. Light roast preserves the anti-inflammatory
properties of coffee, while dark roast is best for weight loss and anti-aging, due to the high
presence of vitamin E and glutathione.
As mentioned earlier, coffee roast is subjective. Therefore, you may want to ask yourself what
health benefit in coffee is more important to you. Do you want to prevent the risk of developing
chronic diseases? Then, opt for a light roast. If you want a bolder taste and you want to lose
weight and fight aging, opt for a dark roast.
Light roast is healthiest if you are after the antioxidants found in coffee. If you prefer coffee for
its taste and weight loss management benefit, drink dark roast.
In the end, you choose the health benefits you want from coffee.