Ah, coffee. Coffee might be one of the most beloved smells and tastes in the world. There are few simple pleasures in life as enjoyable as cup of coffee in the morning. The best part being that coffee is one of those satisfying delights that is actually good for you.
Coffee contains over 1000 bioactive components and is considered the best source of antioxidants in most people’s diets. Coffee is:
- Anti-inflammatory
- Antioxidative
- Antifungal
- Antifibrotic
- Anticancer
- Delicious
Increased coffee consumption has been shown to improve exercise performance, fight depression, and boost cognition. Coffee has also been associated with a decreased risk for Alzheimer’s, type 2 diabetes, depression, cognitive disorders, heart disease, cancer, liver, and metabolic conditions. A review of over 201 meta-analyses found that between three to four cups a day are associated with the largest reduction in risk for disease.
Coffee has even been linked to a lower risk of mortality from all causes and strengthens your DNA. If that isn’t good news, I don’t know what is!
Should You Ever Avoid Coffee?
There are a few times when coffee isn’t a good idea but that’s due to the caffeine not the coffee itself. That being said, you might want to switch to decaf if you:
- Have an anxiety or nervous disorder
- Have the CYP1A2 gene, which makes you metabolize coffee slow (you’ll usually know if a cup or two makes you feel very uncomfortable or jittery)
- Are pregnant
- Use it to fight a chronic lack of sleep
On top of the effects of caffeine in coffee, there is another factor that could be lurking in your cup o’ joe and that is mycotoxins.
Is There Mold in Your Coffee?
A concern I have for coffee is the presence of mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are the toxic chemical that mold produces that commonly grow in crops that have long storage processes like grains, corn, and coffee beans. They are the cause of many health conditions and coffee mold symptoms. Some of the biggest coffee bean mold mycotoxin culprits include:
- T-2 toxin – Causes neuronal death.
- Macrocyclic trichothecenes – Causes neuronal death and olfactory inflammation.
- Fumonisin B1 (FB1) – Causes neuronal degeneration in the cerebral cortex and interrupts lipid synthesis in the brain.
- Aflatoxin B1 – A powerful carcinogen.
- Ochratochin A (OTA) – Causes dopamine depletion, which causes cell death in the brain.
To read more about specific mycotoxins and their effects in the body, you can check out my article Mycotoxins and Your Brain: How Invisible Fungus Can Cause Brain Fog and More.
Those last two mycotoxins – Aflatoxin B1 and Ochratoxin A – are the most common and of particular concern when it comes to coffee.
- A study found 26 percent of coffees had mycotoxins.
- Another study found 45 percent of coffees sampled contained mycotoxins.
- This study found 33 percent of coffees sampled had Ochratoxin A.
These are all studies that took random commercially available coffees and tested them for mycotoxins. The sample sizes ranged from 30 to 60 and are not standardized so it’s a bit difficult to compare these studies directly. One study found that the roasting process reduces the presence of mycotoxins by about 50 percent, which is great news!
There are some who claim that the mycotoxins in coffee are in such low quantities, there’s no need for concern. Additionally, that 100 percent of all human blood samples will test positive for Ochratoxin A and therefore, there’s no real reason for concern. Well, nearly everyone tested positive for Epstein-Barr virus, but that doesn’t mean it’s always benign. Everyone responds differently to pathogens and their biotoxins.
In my opinion, toxin burden is THE biggest cause of declining health and accelerated aging today, so you might want to care anyway. The thing about toxin burden is it’s all about how it adds up within your body. Sure, there might be just a little mold in your coffee but add that to the 84,000 chemicals you’re exposed to each day and you’ve got a big problem. It’s up to you to decide where and how you’ll reduce your chemical burden – but one thing is for sure, we all need to work to reduce the amount of chemicals we’re exposed to.
If you’re interested in learning more about how you can do this, check out my free guide: Reduce Your Daily Toxin Exposure.
All in all, we could definitely use more studies on mycotoxins in coffee – we could always use more studies. I suspect as the medical community becomes more aware of environmentally acquired illness, we will see more studies and more coffee suppliers will begin testing for mycotoxins.
Dr. Jill’s Recommended Mold Free Coffee Brands
If you’re not concerned about your mycotoxin exposure or struggling with chronic health issues, the jury is still out on whether or not you should use certified mycotoxin free coffee.
If you are interested in mycotoxin free coffee, try my favorite, Purity Coffee. They take mycotoxin and pesticide exposure seriously. Purity Coffee took it upon themselves to test 65 different types of coffee at an independent lab to see how theirs stacked up – they did well.
Coffee is great for you – it’s packed with disease-fighting antioxidants, improves focus, exercise performance, weight loss, memory recall, and more. You just want to be sure you’re drinking the right coffee for you.
Resources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5696634/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28693038
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24740588
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3346273/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC164220/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24152987
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7759018
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14726276
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16515661
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12452679
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/10/26/senate.toxic.america.hearing/index.html
This looks yummy too, tried it? https://getneurocoffee.com/
Not yes, Chris but I just ordered some!
I get my coffee in bulk from the market “Sprout’s” here in MESA,AZ.. It’s ground there and it’s from Guatemala.. Heavily roasted,,,, dark.. Fine grind
All good if they can prove they check for mycotoxin levels… many companies, even organic do not test.
I am not a coffee drinker. But was wondering if there could also be molds in tea? I have a mold allergy.
Yes, black tea may contain mold as well…
I really have a problem with caffeinated coffee making me very jittery and I suspect it triggers inflammatory swelling in my legs as well. I see Bulletproof sells a decaf version. Will this have the same health benefits of “regular” coffee?
Decaf coffee like Purity may have similar benefits
Which brand of mycotoxin tested coffee do you drink?
Purity Coffee! It’s amazing!!
Dr. Carnahan- Is decaf better than regular coffee? I am trying to quit caffeine but can’t give up coffee.
Dr. Jill,
Thanks for a great article. The debate over mycotoxins in coffee seems to have moved into the realm of psudo-science. Whether it’s “journalist” sharing their “take”, “opinions” or “common sense” on the issue, for a 200 word blog filler or competing coffee purveyors undermining one another, few facts and real data are offered.
All these “experts” seem to point to an empty argument you rightly debunk…
“We are exposed to millions of toxins everyday and the ones in coffee are regulated down to 2% or less, so there’s little to worry about.”
None of these geniuses ever explain or explore the cumulative factors, involved in their misguided statements, as you have. I always explain it to people like this. “Sure the venom in one bee sting won’t kill you or even make you fee ill. However, a thousand stings could throw you into anaphylactic shock and kill you.
I think very few people, on a daily basis, consider the constant toxic assault their bodies are subjected to. Every single major and minor system, that allows us to function as organisms is bombarded with toxins, chemicals and traumas. At some point we reach a saturation level and then start to see the effects manifested as physical and mental health issues.
Thank you for explaining this very ignored piece of the mycotoxin puzzle.
This is a great article covering the problems of mycotoxins.
For us UK residents it is harder to find mycotoxin free coffee without paying over the odds for bp
I recently discovered Mindful Coffee, it has all the qualities of bp but it’s also freshly roasted in the uk
https://mindfulcoffee.co.uk
Worth a try for peopl in the uk
Ay what temperature can you kill the mold? Or what happen by boiling cofre? Thanks
I have a mold allergy but the airborne mold. However I cannot have coffee. They do recommend to stay away from fermented foods too, which is really hard. But the thing that kills my sinuses is the coffee. I feel truly ill when I drink coffee and sad to say I have to give it up. It took me forever to figure out it was actually the coffee.
What amazes me is the amount of people who deny that molds in coffee affect your health.
We drink Longevity Coffee is that a good choice, seems to have many benefits, not sure about mold. Thanks!
Hi Dr JIll, I drink up to 1-1.5 cups every day, Turkish coffee style. That process ok?
Sure! As long as the coffee has been tested for toxins
Hello Jill and Jeff,
i think mold toxines have the power to drive our immune system nuts, see MCAS or mast cell activation decease.
But caffeine, once MCAS is there, also functions as a mast cell activating drug.
So clearly I feel better with decaff coffee.
But I can not heal. Im the sense of lessening symptoms.
Of cause this is multifactorial, but allergies especially on food seem to be a key factor that has to be erdicized. Difficult.
Therefore I’m thankful to the hint that mold 1. triggers the MCAS and 2. keeps it running in tiny doses.
What I really want to add to this discussion is:
Please look inside your fully automatic coffee machine.
Let it be cleaned Moore often. Or do it yourself. But the mold inside will not fall into your coffee, normally.
My model has some pseudo free outflow structure, where the coffee expands and builds up its cream.
In my eyes this is a mold zoo, since I can not clean it even by dental water-pik, at least not without some cleaning lance spitting sideways at the tip from injection needle steel.
So better buy regular sieve carrier espresso machines and some automatically dosing coffee grinder.
Once in a board for coffee machine nuyers guide someone wrote:
You only shift the work with buying something fully automated, clean the sieve, wipe the outlet, done.
Or for the „lazy automated ones“: some display messages that cost you hours per month if done thoroughly:
* cleaning required. (I always scrub the boiler unit thoroughly, shoot inside on the pressure vent wher coffe reisdues gather, an wipe it from inside, before I Start the automated cleaning process with cleaning tablet. Will do it twice a month now after reading this and the hoffmanncentre.com mold exposure guide and introduce the cleaning lance for my water pik. When I’m ready I can post a link to pictures and some short video clip.
* Milk pipe cleaning required.
* Empty coffee groud shell.
* Error xxx (the more complex, the more error prone and with limited durability)
… etc …
So my question is:
Do the studies about mold (toxins) in coffee measure before AND after cooking in a certain machine eg being 4 years old?
Or do they say: I concentrated on the beans only. (Short from a Mr. Bean sketch:))
In my eyes most elder machines – meaning in use for more than a month – have an intrinsic mold problem that can only be solved by cleverly designing the machine in resepct to be easily and thoroughly cleaned, which is not the case when you look sharp enough. The cleaning tools must me shipped together with the machine. Mine was shipped with a round brush 4mm that is able to clean the milk silicone pipe from within, and all milk touched parts can go in the dish washing machine or be cooked, and the coffee cooking mechanism can be taken out, clever so far. But the crema expansion is tightly sealed. And the pressure relief vent is a bad mold producer an nonremovable. Looking closer reveals more.
So I will go to turkish style or sieve carriers.
For a pity all soluble coffees are not to be recommended. Toonmuch broken molecues to be good with HIT or MCAS. Would be a good solution for a coffee far from home or your preferred cafe.
Yours
AndiSho
Can you say which brands test for toxins and which do not. I know Rainforest coffee that comes from Life Extensions has certification that there coffee is 100% organic. Is Folgers, Starbucks, etc. also certified? How can we find out?
Organic is not necessarily tested for mycotoxins.
Love this article! I absolutely feel best drinking a mycotoxin-free coffee. (Highly allergic to molds; I use the Isagenix’ organic coffee.) Surprised, however, that you didn’t also address coffeemakers, most of which are made in China with cheap inner-parts made of toxic plastics — AND which can harbor mold inside the apparatus.
I was feeling very ill after my morning cup & after research I changed to a food-grade stainless steel kettle, along with a nice quality pour-over setup (glass carafe & food-grade stainless steel filter). Best at-home coffee I ever had … nirvana!
Thanks for your insights, Martha!