Coffee Uses and Plant Monograph
Most people don’t think of coffee as an herb. However, if we define an herb as a medicinal plant, then not only is coffee an herb, it’s one of the most popular herbs in the world with over 500 billion cups of coffee being drunk annually and over 75 million people making their livelihood from coffee.
Perhaps the reason that coffee is commonly dismissed by the herbal world is because of our culture’s over-use of this medicinal substance. It’s rare to hear of an herbalist recommending coffee for someone’s health, probably because 50% of the U.S. population is already self-dosing. Instead, herbalists are often more likely to recommend against drinking coffee due to its side effects in susceptible people.
This article will highlight the medicinal attributes of coffee, share some fascinating glimpses of the history of coffee, and discuss the art and science of preparing it. In this article, coffee is placed within a therapeutic framework to understand its benefits while also keeping in mind the consequences of over-indulging.
This article will focus on actual coffee rather than its chemical constituent, caffeine. While caffeine is undoubtedly a powerful and interesting component of coffee, it is the mission of this article to focus on whole plant medicine rather than isolated chemical constituents.
Coffee Uses & Plant Profile Summary
- Botanical Name: Coffea arabica, C. robusta, C. liberica
- Family: Rubiaceae (madder)
- Parts Used: seeds
- Energetics: cool
- Taste: bitter
- Plant Properties: stimulating, diuretic, moves blood, laxative, regulates blood sugar, bronchial dilator, vasoconstrictor
- Plant Uses: fatigue, constipation, insulin resistance, stimulate digestion, improved cognition, symptomatic asthma, headaches, heart health
- Plant Preparations: roasted coffee beverages, caffeine extracts
History of Coffee
In just 1,000 years, coffee has been credited with a rise of intellectualism, grandly influencing Arabic and European cultures through the rise of coffee houses. It has also been accused of destroying indigenous cultures while becoming one of the most valuable commodities in the world. After this brief touch on the fascinating history of coffee, you may want to read one of the many books on the subject.
Coffee has had a relatively sudden rise to fame. About 1,000 years ago, legend has it that a goat herder in Ethiopia noticed his animals were more rambunctious and frisky after eating the berries and leaves of a small shrub. Testing it out for himself, the goat herder felt more energized and thus the fascination with coffee began.
The first methods of preparing coffee included making a tea from its leaves and pounding its green seeds into a flour-like substance that was then made into cakes. Neither of these preparations were particularly tasty, but they were presumably effective because people’s love for coffee continued to grow.
The Arabs are credited with figuring out how to roast coffee beans to then brew them into a delicious beverage. For centuries the Arabs controlled the flow of coffee beans to other parts of the world, until coffee plants slowly but surely were smuggled out of controlled plantations and cultivated throughout equatorial regions of the world.
A tangential but historically significant part of coffee was the rise of coffee shops. As coffee became more common, we saw the rise of coffee shops in Europe. The first coffeehouse in England opened in 1652 and by 1675 there were over 3,000 coffee shops. Up until then, popular social meeting places had been bars and taverns where the only liquid fit to drink was beer and wine. Coffee shops distinguished themselves as meeting places of intellectuals and were frequented by many influential musicians, politicians, and philosophers. Johann Sebastian Bach, Voltaire. and Rousseau all famously frequented coffee shops. Both Lloyd Shipping and Insurance and the New York Stock Exchange had their beginnings in coffee houses.
“Ah! How sweet coffee tastes! Lovelier than a thousand kisses, sweeter far than muscatel wine!”
- Johann Sebastian Bach, Coffee Cantata
Coffee shops became a seat of political discourse and broke down class barriers. In the 1800s, England was home to what was dubbed “penny universities.” Anyone willing to pay a penny at the door was allowed to drink coffee and participate in the debates and political observations of the other patrons. While class barriers were relaxed in coffee houses, many continued to uphold gender discrimination, as women in England and France were barred from entrance.
Discussing the War in a Paris Café – a scene from the brief interim between the Battle of Sedan and Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War
Fast-forward to 20th century North America, when coffee shops were famously frequented by the Beat Generation poets and gave rise to many folk singers of the 1960s, such as Bob Dylan. Coffeehouses have always played an important role in raising awareness of social causes and bringing about discussion and cultural change.
“Only one thing is certain about coffee…. Wherever it is grown, sold, brewed, and consumed, there will be lively controversy, strong opinions, and good conversation.”
- Mark Pendergrast
Fast-forward to 20th century North America, when coffee shops were famously frequented by the Beat Generation poets and gave rise to many folk singers of the 1960s, such as Bob Dylan. Coffeehouses have always played an important role in raising awareness of social causes and bringing about discussion and cultural change.
While there are many interesting historical facts about coffee, there is also a dark side to coffee’s history. As the demand for coffee grew, profit-driven governments and entrepreneurs slashed down native forests and destroyed numerous indigenous cultures to make room for coffee plantations. Millions of people who were once independent subsistence farmers were forced into coffee cultivation, leaving families and entire countries victim to the rise and fall of coffee prices.
Starting in the 1990s, awareness about the negative economic and environmental impacts of coffee began to rise. Organizations and cooperatives were created to ensure a fair price for farmers (called “fair trade”). Today coffee is the largest fair trade product in the world. Fair trade is the only ethical choice when buying coffee. “Shade-grown” and “organic” coffees are further ethical choices, adding layers of environmental protection by plantations being grown in biodiverse forests, and plantations being grown without pesticides.
Medicinal Uses of Coffee
The simplest way to describe the medicinal benefit of coffee is that it is a stimulant. It stimulates energy, circulation, digestion, and even urination.
Coffee acts by affecting the central nervous system. Coffee suppresses the parasympathetic “rest and relax” nervous system and bolsters the sympathetic “fight or flight” nervous system.
The most obvious effect we feel after drinking coffee is more energy. Physiologically, heart rate is increased, as well as circulation, diuresis, gastric enzymes, and peristalsis. In essence, coffee wakes things up and gets them moving.
Coffee for Fatigue
People love coffee for its taste and for the comfort of a warm morning ritual. Some people say it’s the best part of waking up. If you’ve ever enjoyed a cup of coffee, then you know exactly how this feels.
“I think we all pray to the first cup of the day. It’s a silent prayer, sung while the mind is still foggy and blue. ‘O Magic Cup,’ it might go, ‘carry me above the traffic jam. Keep me civil in the subway. And forgive my employer, as you forgive me. Amen.”
- Stewert Lee Allen
Many people depend on coffee to help them fight fatigue and increase their energy. Countless studies have shown the positive effects of coffee for people who work the night shift, work exceptionally long hours, or do monotonous work throughout the day. In the short term coffee can provide a relatively safe way to stay awake and increase energy levels.
Coffee Makes You Smarter and Protects Against Neurodegenerative Diseases
Not only does coffee increase energy levels it also increases cognitive abilities. Numerous studies have shown that drinking coffee increases short-term memory and recall abilities.
“The powers of a man’s mind are directly proportioned to the quantity of coffee he drinks.”
- Sir James Mackintosh
Studies also show that drinking coffee decreases the risk for Alzheimers and for Parkinson’s, two of the most prevalent neurodegenerative diseases. One study found that drinking “3-5 cups per day at midlife was associated with a decreased risk of dementia/AD by about 65% at late-life.”
“Mental activity is pronounced, thought is rapid, and so great is the cerebral stimulation that an enormous amount of brain power is developed, so that individuals are capable of prolonged and severe mental application. The reasoning faculties are sharpened, and there is also a marked capacity for physical labor.”
- King’s American Dispensatory
Coffee Stimulates Digestion and Keeps Livers Healthy
Coffee stimulates the release of gastric enzymes, which are an important factor in the digestive process. It also increases peristalsis, the natural movement of the colon. Many habitual coffee drinkers rely on their morning cup to get their bowels moving.
Studies have also shown regular coffee consumption keeps the liver healthy. This study showed that the beneficial effects on the liver were especially helpful for people who drink alcohol. One study has shown that even decaffeinated (“decaf”) coffee consumption is correlated with a decrease in abnormal liver enzymes, leading researchers to theorize that caffeine is not the only medicinal substance in coffee.
“Moderately drunk, coffee removes vapours from the brain, occasioned by fumes of wine, or other strong liquors; eases pains in the head, prevents sour belchings, and provokes appetite.”
- England’s Happiness Improved, 1699
Coffee as a Diuretic
Coffee mildly increases the kidneys’ rate of filtration, thus increasing urination. However, people quickly create a tolerance to this effect. It was once widely believed that coffee caused dehydration, but this is no longer believed to be the case.
Coffee for Insulin Resistance, Inflammation and Heart Disease
Coffee has numerous benefits for preventing insulin resistance or for mitigating the negative effects of this metabolic disease. People who drink 3-5 cups of coffee a day have been shown to have a significantly decreased risk for developing insulin resistance. (There are countless studies in this field which are linked at the end of this article.)
Perhaps because of the antioxidant-rich nature of coffee (it’s the number once source of antioxidants in the U.S. diet), it has also been shown to reduce complications from the inflammation associated with insulin resistance, including decreased retinal damage.
Heart disease, often strongly tied to insulin resistance, is also decreased in people who regularly drink coffee. This review of studies showed that women who regularly drank coffee had a lower risk for coronary heart disease.
Coffee Can Relieve Headaches and Support Healthy Lung Function in Asthmatics
Coffee and caffeine are widely used to relieve headaches. Many pharmaceutical pain relievers contain caffeine extracts.
Coffee acts as a bronchodilator that helps to open airways and improve breathing capacity. Asthmatics who regularly drink coffee have been shown to have 1/3 fewer symptoms than those with asthma who don’t drink coffee.
“The tincture of coffee made from the unroasted berries is a nerve stimulant and antispasmodic. It increases the heart’s action and produces a rise in arterial tension. It is of value in nervous headache, and in vertigo from imperfect circulation in the nerve centers-in cerebral anemia.”
- Ellingwood American Materia Medica,Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy, 1919
Cautions with Coffee
The above paragraphs on the health benefits of coffee may have you feeling that everyone could benefit from drinking coffee every day. But there are some potentially serious adverse effects to drinking too much coffee. It entirely depends on the person and their current health.
Some people already know that drinking even one cup of coffee makes them unpleasantly hyperactive or jittery. People experiencing these negative effects after one cup should heed the wisdom of their bodies and entirely avoid coffee.
If someone is continually stressed, has a lot of anxiety, isn’t sleeping well, and/or has significant ups and downs in their energy levels during the day, then coffee is not a healthy beverage choice. In this case even one cup could be too much.
Other people may abuse coffee, which then leads to negative health effects. Coffee abuse can have short-term and long-term negative effects on overall health. For example, coffee can wreak havoc on a person’s sleep patterns. If a person doesn’t sleep well, then they tend to feel tired the next day, thus fueling their desire, or even sense of entitlement, for more coffee. This again disrupts their sleep, leading to a self-perpetuating negative cycle. Besides disrupting sleep cycles coffee can also create or exacerbate anxiety and gastric reflux.
Coffee is addictive. As coffee consumption is increased, the body becomes tolerant to it, resulting in the perception that more coffee is needed. Suddenly stopping coffee can lead to withdrawal symptoms, including headaches, fatigue, and foggy mental capabilities. It’s generally better to slowly reduce coffee intake rather than stop “cold turkey.”
Coffee is not recommended during pregnancy.
Is coffee healthy or unhealthy? Like most things in life there isn’t a black-and-white answer to that question. In this case, it really depends on the health of the person and their relationship to coffee. If the person generally is healthy, gets restful sleep every night, eats a varied and nutritious diet, and doesn’t rely on coffee or other energy crutches, then coffee in moderation can be a health-promoting drink.
“Is it possible to get a cup of coffee-flavored coffee anymore in this country? What happened with coffee? Did I miss a meeting? They have every other flavor but coffee-flavored coffee. They have mochaccino, frappaccino, cappuccino, al pacino…Coffee doesn’t need a menu, it needs a cup.”
- Denis Leary
Scientists are studying the human genome for clues on personalized recommendations for coffee consumption. To date, six genetic variants of coffee tolerance have been identified. Authors of this study say this could lead to personalized recommendations for increasing or decreasing coffee consumption.
Botanically Speaking
There are three major coffee species in the world. This article mainly focuses on Coffea arabica, which accounts for 70% of the cultivated coffee in the world. Coffea arabica is believed to be native to Ethiopia and possibly Yemen. It prefers a steady amount of rainfall during the year and does not tolerate frost, leaving it most habituated to growing in equatorial regions.
Unlike in its native habitat where it is a forest shrub, coffee production is increased when grown in monoculture plantations. Huge amounts of native forest have been slashed and burned to accommodate burgeoning coffee plantations in equatorial regions. Monoculture plantations make the coffee crop more susceptible to diseases and pests, leading to an abundance of harmful pesticides being sprayed on the plants. Since many of these plantations are in areas with less stringent safety and environmental laws, a wide variety of harmful chemicals that are banned by many countries are still being used on coffee plantations.
Coffee naturally grows as a small shrub as part of a forest understory. Some coffee plantations are using shade-grown cultivation methods to promote biodiversity, retain forests, and reduce pesticide use.
Plant Preparations
Okay, I’ll admit it…I adore coffee. I am very grateful that in my small rural valley we have an exceptional coffee roaster, Blue Star Coffee Roasters. Dan Donohue, one of the owners of Blue Star, graciously gave me a two-hour tour of their roasting plant. I was able to watch the roasting process and interview Dan, who has an impressive amount of knowledge about sourcing, roasting and preparing coffee.
Blue Star buys green coffee beans from fair trade, organic, and shade-grown coffee farms from around the world. Donohue explained that the taste of coffee beans varies widely depending on the growing conditions and the climate. From year to year coffee beans produced from a single coffee shrub can vary dramatically. As an herbalist I found this especially interesting and a further proof that nature just can’t be standardized.
The sourced green coffee beans are then brought back to the roasting plant. The roasting of the beans is quite a science. The amount of time and the temperature of the roaster play a big role in the final taste. Blue Star has their own unique recipes, including roasting times and temperatures, to create their signature blends. Donohue pointed out that this highly specialized and artisanal roasting came about after the Industrial Revolution. Before commercial roasters, people more commonly bought and roasted the green beans themselves.
The coffee beans go through a chemical transformation as they are roasted. They lose approximately 20% of their weight but they also increase their volume. Donohue recommends letting freshly roasted beans sit for several days before brewing.
Raw coffee beans are fresh for about a year, whereas properly stored whole roasted coffee beans are best consumed within six months. Donohue says that if you have a sophisticated palette, you can track changes in the taste of the beans over those six months. Once the beans have been ground, use them within the week.
Grinding beans is another critical part of brewing that perfect cup of coffee. Finely ground beans lend themselves to a quick pressurized water extraction like espresso. A medium-sized grind lends itself better to drip or pour-over coffee.
To get that incredible cup of coffee, look for a small coffee roasting company near you that offers fair trade, organic, and shade-grown coffee. If that’s not available, then Blue Star Coffee Roasters ships freshly roasted coffee and even offers subscriptions.
In recent years, single-serving coffee brewers have risen in popularity. While some may argue that these beans-plus-filter devices are convenient, they are also considered to be of low quality and produce an embarrassing amount of plastic and aluminum waste. The coffee in these single-cup preparations is rarely fair trade, organic, or shade-grown, which means it has already wreaked human and environmental damage before it even reaches the coffee pot.
Decaffeinated Coffee
Decaf coffee has had the majority of the caffeine taken out of it. Caffeine was previously extracted by soaking the coffee in chemical solvents like benzene, a known carcinogen. These days, dichloromethane and ethyl acetate are used to decaffeinate coffee. Proponents of this method claim that very little of the solvents remain on the coffee beans. However, concerns about these chemicals aren’t just about the end-product, but also are about what we introduce into the environment in the process. If you like to avoid known carcinogens and the creation of chemical wastes, then look for coffee that has been decaffeinated using water or CO2 instead of chemical solvents.
Decaffeinated coffee is often wrongly thought to be completely caffeine free. Decaf coffee still has approximately 3% caffeine and may adversely effect people who are sensitive to caffeine.
Summary
Coffee is an antioxidant-rich beverage enjoyed by over 50% of people in the U.S. It offers a wide range of health benefits but, like all substances, is best enjoyed in moderation.
Some people may find that they can enjoy coffee regularly without experiencing adverse effects. Others may find that even small amounts of coffee don’t agree with them, or that by using coffee as a crutch for other unhealthy behaviors (e.g., in place of sleep, to burn both ends of the candle, to mask energy fluctuations due to a bad diet), they experience more pronounced adverse effects. A “healthy” dose of coffee varies from person to person.
Coffee is a major global commodity and contributes to the livelihood of over 75 million people. Many coffee farmers work in horrible conditions and are not paid a living wage. Some profit-driven plantations cut native forests to make room for their plantations and then spray those plantations with a variety of harmful chemicals. If you choose to drink coffee for health or for pleasure, you can support human rights and healthy environmental practices by buying fair trade, organic, shade-grown coffee.
Resources and Citations
- Herbalpedia for Coffee
- Coffee and its effects on hydration
- Coffee as a popular commodity
- Fair Trade Coffee
- Gene variants and coffee consumption
- Coffee and Alzheimers
- De-caf coffee and liver health
- Coffee and Liver health
- Coffee for insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes
- Coffee Consumption and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes A Systematic Review
- Coffee and tea consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes
- Coffee and retinal damage
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