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Writer's pictureTara Wilson

Healthy Swaps: May

Swap Out Your Regular Coffee

Replace it with: Organic, Mold Free Coffee

Navigating this Blog Post:

***Full disclosure: this blog post contains affiliate links that may be commissionable.

The "Why"


If you're like the majority of people, you most likely start your day off with one cup (or two...okay maybe three cups) of coffee, and then if you're like me, you also indulged in another cup of coffee later on in the day at your favorite coffee place (I used to spend an ungodly amount of money at Starbucks...but their iced coffees are just so good!!). There were a lot of days in my teens and early twenties when I know for a fact I consumed more coffee than I did water, which I'm ashamed to admit but hey! I'm learning and adjusting my habits as I grow older.


Well, when you're consuming something like coffee on a daily basis, and most importantly, large quantities of it, the quality of the coffee should matter, right?


I'm not going to lie - this month's healthy swap might be a little more challenging than the others, only for the fact that most people by now probably have a coffee brand that they love and are committed to, and won't want to read what I'm about to tell you.


So I'll start with the good news!! Like all of my other healthy swaps, having the right kind of coffee can actually be super awesome for your health!! Which means, I'm definitely not telling you to cut out coffee! YAY!


The bad news: almost half of the coffee on this planet not only has mold, but a bunch of other harmful toxins that are detrimental to your health [7, 10, 11]. And yes...that most likely means Starbucks. [9]


Stop consuming these products:

  • Coffee brands that don't test regularly for mold and other toxins

  • Coffee brands that aren't organic, and spray their crops with pesticides

  • Coffee beans that aren't grown in high altitudes

  • Decaffeinated Coffee (that's not organic and/or has been tested for toxins)

  • Instant Coffee

  • Coffee from robusta beans (as opposed to arabica)

  • Light roast coffee (as opposed to medium and dark roasts)


Why It's Bad For You


The Short Answer:
  • Unless the coffee is certified organic and regularly tested for mold, the toxic byproducts from the mold, carcinogens from the roasting process, and harmful pesticides sprayed on the coffee can cause a whole host of health issues, including liver cancer, kidney damage, brain damage, and damage to your immune system.


The Long Answer:
  • Unfortunately, mold growth is possible at virtually any stage of a coffee's path, from: -the region where it grows (hot & humid areas can promote mold more so than higher altitude areas [1, 4, 5, 6]) -how it's harvested (I've read it doesn't matter whether the beans are dry processed or wet processed, both ways can pose a risk for mold growth, as well as the fermentation process [12]; however, some sources say wet processed is safer over dry processed [1, 16] ) -how it's stored during travel and for how long (if the beans are stored in burlap sacks for the [possibly] several weeks of travel before they get to the roastery, then that's a risk as well, since plant materials like cellulose make up burlap, and toxic mold likes to grow on natural materials like cellulose [4]) -where and how it's roasted (roasteries also provide opportunities for mold toxins to grow [4])

  • When mold grows and spreads, it creates a byproduct called mycotoxins. It is possible for the mold on the coffee beans to be killed off during the roasting process, however, the toxins from the mold remain.

  • Some mycotoxins found in coffee that are harmful to our health: -Aflatoxin B1: according to the World Heath Organization, aflatoxins are "amongst the most poisonous mycotoxins," are known to be genotoxic (ability to damage DNA), and cause liver cancer in humans as well as cancer in animals. -Ochratoxin A (OTA): also shown to cause damage to the liver, as well as the kidneys and immune system. OTA can also cause a serious depletion of dopamine and kill brain cells. [6] (To read more in-depth information on why OTA is bad for your health, read this article, "The Science Behind Just One Mold Toxin in Your Coffee") -Fumonisin B1: known to cause neurodegeneration, or brain damage. It also messes with other necessary brain function, like memory, attention, and even language! [6] -Macrocyclic Trichothecenes: also kills important brain cells, as well as messes with your olfactory system (made up of your nose and nasal cavities, the system that serves your sense of smell). [5] And those are just four out of the handful of mycotoxins that have been found in coffee!


  • Now moving on to pesticides (yup! There's even more in traditional coffee than just those mycotoxins). Considering that coffee is one of the world's crops that are most heavily sprayed with pesticides [7], it's definitely important that your coffee not only be mold free, but also organic. In this article, you can find a list of eighteen pesticides that may be found in coffee, why they're used, and what they do to your body (I'd list them here, but honestly...it's a lot. Just trust me when I say it's no good, or even better, check out the article so you can see for yourself).

  • Besides the possible long-term effects of drinking moldy coffee I listed above, some immediate side effects of drinking moldy coffee are brain fog, upper respiratory infection symptoms, flu-like symptoms, headaches, and gastro-intestinal issues. [7]

  • Decaf coffee has an even higher risk than regular caffeinated coffee at containing harmful toxins, which is unfortunate for someone like me who is trying to cut back on caffeine but still wants that coffee taste. The cool thing about caffeine is that it can help stop mold and other organisms from growing on the coffee beans, since it's the plant's natural anti-fungal and anti-insect defense mechanism. [14] So when the caffeine is removed, the beans no longer have their defense mechanism in place, and this is why decaf coffee is higher in some of the mycotoxins mentioned above. For this reason, if you're going to drink decaf, it's even more important than regular caffeinated coffee to choose a brand that is organic and regularly tests for mold and other toxins.

  • Acrylamide: and just when you thought there couldn't possibly be more than pesticides and mycotoxins, we've also got acrylamide in coffee to worry about. Simply put, acrylamide is a carcinogen (cancer-causing substance) that forms when you apply high temperatures to food - think frying, baking, etc. It's an unfortunate byproduct that can't be completely avoided when you eat food products that are cooked this way, which means all coffee beans that go through the roasting process will have some amount of acrylamide.

  • The good news, however, is you can pick coffee that's lower in acrylamide than others, and therefore lower your potential exposure and consumption of it. Coffees that have been tested to have high amounts of acrylamide are instant coffee, coffee substitutes, lighter roasts, and coffee from robusta beans. Coffees that have shown to have lower amounts of acrylamide are darker roasts, coffee from arabica beans, and freshly brewed coffee (as opposed to french-press and espresso). [1, 27]


Why These Replacements Are Good For You


Like I said before, the good news is that there are actually some great health benefits to drinking organic, mold-free coffee!

  • Great Source of Antioxidants - as you know from our earlier monthly swaps, antioxidants are necessary for combatting those pesky free radicals in your body that cause cellular damage and rapid aging

  • Great Source of Polyphenols - polyphenols can improve your heart health, lower your risk for diabetes, can help fight active cancer cells, and support your immune system [15]

  • Can Help You Burn Fat & Lose Weight - the caffeine in coffee can help your body break down fat cells and use it as fuel. It also helps regulate your blood sugar and curbs your sugar cravings [1, 19]

  • Can Improve Your Mood - along with stimulating the central nervous system, this study showed that caffeine can actually act like a "mild antidepressant," encouraging your brain to produce neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin. It also showed that drinking coffee was linked to a lower suicide risk, and this study incidentally showed that depression was less likely to develop in women who drink coffee [18, 17]

  • Can Lower Your Risk of Stroke - [1, 19, 20]

  • Can Lower Your Risk of Type 2 Diabetes - those who drink caffeine in moderation (in general) have better insulin sensitivity [19]. This is great information for someone like me, who learned after taking a genetics test that I'm predisposed to Type 2 Diabetes.

  • Helps Protect Your Brain From Memory Loss - [1, 19]

  • Can Help Your Mental Performance - caffeine can help keep you alert and focused, as well as help with memory recall [1, 19]

  • Can Help Your Physical Performance - caffeine can help increase power output for both aerobic and anaerobic exercise [19]

  • Can Lower Your Risk of DEATH - I had to capitalize that because I know it sounds kind of crazy. But apparently, this study showed that coffee drinkers had a slightly smaller chance at overall death, and this study showed that drinking coffee lowered your overall risk for premature death by about 25% [1, 19, 21, 22]

Some great coffee brands to try that are both organic and test for mold and toxins:

**Bulletproof coffee tastes great and is consumed by many of the health professionals that I follow, however, for full transparency, I have to mention that they're not certified organic. As you may or may not know, it's expensive for farmers to pay for organic certification, and this company claims that it keeps a close eye on its farmers, so there's no need for them to fork up the cost for certification. It also claims that they regularly test for mold and toxins, so they rely on their customers to trust their word in the matter. This is what my boyfriend and I drink every morning, mostly because it's at an affordable price point for us compared to some of the others, but after doing this research, I may try switching over to Kicking Horse Coffee, since they're a little more affordable and not only test regularly for mold and other toxins, but are guaranteed certified organic. To read more on Bulletproof specifically, check out this article [8] and this article [23].


***Again, for full transparency, I can't find anywhere on Wild Jo's site that they regularly test for mold and other toxins. Being certified organic does help keep most of the problematic stuff in coffee out, but doesn't necessarily mean it's mold free. However, I did like that they had a biodegradable, non-plastic option for k-cups, because most k-cups are plastic and the amount of waste from k-cups alone is crazy terrible for our planet. That's why I included them on this list, however, their non-plastic k-cups are almost always sold out on Amazon because they're so popular.


Since we have a single k-cup maker, we use these BPA-free stainless steel reusable k-cup filters with these natural biodegradable paper filters for our ground coffee. It's a lot cheaper than constantly buying k-cups, and it's also better for the environment (and your health, if you're constantly making hot coffee with plastic k-cups).


The Controversial Stuff

I feel like it's important to include the controversial arguments for this conversation, so you're able to have all of the facts and make an informed decision on what's better for you and your family's health. So here it goes:

  • There are a lot of different health professionals and websites that will argue that the amount of mycotoxins found in coffee is not enough for "traditional" coffee to be deemed unsafe to drink. Some say that if you have a healthy liver, you should be able to filter out those amounts of mycotoxins with no problem. [24]

  • There are also many other food sources that contain mycotoxins that are more likely to affect your health over the amount of mycotoxins found in coffee (to quickly check out a list of food that might be exposing you to mycotoxins, click here, and for a more in-depth article, click here). [24]

  • There are also some that argue the fact that mold spores can pop up in virtually any environment, which would make it near impossible to ensure that every single environment of the coffee process (picking, roasting, transporting, storage) could keep the beans 100% mold free. [6]

  • The caffeine in coffee makes it highly addictive, and when consumed in high amounts not only make it unhealthy but can have terrible effects on your health. [25] Drinking too much caffeine can also cause adrenal fatigue (which is what happened to me, and something I'm spending a lot of money and time on trying to fix - but we'll save that for another blog post!)

These arguments are valid. And honestly, I'm not a health professional, so what do I know? However, taking my opinion with a grain of salt, I don't agree that traditional coffee is "safe" to drink just because the amount of mycotoxins found in coffee is a small amount and that alone isn't considered a "health risk." If there are mycotoxins found in many of our food and drinks, and we're constantly ingesting it and exposing our bodies to it every day, then does that small amount in coffee still not matter? I would think it would add to the toxic load.


Along with all the other food and drinks consumed with mycotoxins, some people drink high quantities of coffee, and that though a small amount in one cup may be okay, how much mold becomes an issue with several cups, every single day?


This is also presuming that the person drinking the coffee has a healthy liver and their body is able to detox effectively. I would argue that the average person does not take a daily liver support (like milk thistle), does seasonal detoxes for their liver, or goes out of their way to make sure that the products in their house help ease the liver's burden of constantly filtering out toxins (no artificial fragrances, parabens, pthalates, sulfites, sulfates, and other toxic chemicals in all cleaning or self care products). On top of that, people living in highly polluted cities (like me, in Tokyo and then Los Angeles) or areas with high amounts of brake dust (again, me - the highway is right out our back door) have livers that are constantly overworked by trying to filter out toxins.


When you know you have the choice to drink a coffee whose makers did everything in their power to ensure that they were giving you the cleanest coffee possible, as opposed to drinking a moldy (and pesticide-laced) coffee just because "it's probably not that bad" for you, which would you choose?


And lastly, yes caffeine is a drug and can be addicting. As I mentioned in this blog post, coffee in moderation however can have awesome health benefits, and like everything, you want it in moderation or it can hurt you.


Also, I think it's important to note that coffee is healthy when it's organic and mold free, as well as black. The health benefits become questionable the more milk/cream/sugar you add to it. I personally use a (non-GMO, non-canola oil) oat milk with a couple drops of french vanilla stevia (Whole Foods has a great organic one).


I hope this information helped you out, and good luck with this month's healthy swap! You can still have delicious coffee that's great for your health, too, so that's a win! But for me, I know I'm a little more aware now of the amount of coffee I buy out from coffee shops like Starbucks. It's not only better for my health, but it's also better for my wallet, haha. See you next month, for June's Healthy Swap!


Links to Cited Articles


Here are the articles that I used for research to write this blog post.

  1. Best & Worst Coffee Brands - How to Buy the Safest Coffee, Mamavation

  2. The Science Behind Just One Mold Toxin in Your Coffee, Dave Asprey

  3. 8 Coffee Brands to Avoid, Caffeine Informer

  4. Mold in Coffee - The Harsh Truth About Coffee Mycotoxins, Bruno B - Spirit Animal Coffee

  5. Is There Mold In Your Coffee? Real Time Laboratories, Inc

  6. You Are Drinking Mold In your Coffee, Amanda Demsky - Mold Blogger

  7. The Best Toxic Free Coffee, Caroline Fausel - Olive You Whole

  8. Top 5 Best Mold and Mycotoxin Free Coffee Brands of 2022, Natural Force

  9. Is Starbucks Coffee Organic? Brandon Spears - The Old Coffee Pot

  10. The Occurrence of Ochratoxin A in Coffee, National Library of Medicine - PubMed

  11. Fungal contamination in green coffee beans samples: A public health concern, National Library of Medicine - PubMed

  12. Mold in Coffee: Facts, Myths, and How to Avoid it, Clark - Golden Ratio

  13. Mycotoxins, World Health Organization

  14. Why Bad Coffee Makes You Weak, Dave Asprey - Bulletproof

  15. 8 Foods High in Polyphenols, Nourish by WebMD

  16. Processing Methods: Wet, Dry, and Everything Between, Patriot Craft Coffee

  17. Coffee, Caffeine and Risk of Depression Among Women, Lucas, Mirzaei, and Pan - JAMA Internal Medicine

  18. Coffee Drinking Tied to Lower Risk of Suicide, Marge Dwyer - Harvard Gazette

  19. Coffee Benefits: Perform Better & Live Longer, Dave Asprey

  20. Coffee Consumption and Risk of Stroke in Women, Lopez-Garcia, Rodriguez-Artalejo, Rexrode, Logroscino, Hu and M. van Dam - Circulation

  21. The Relationship of Coffee Consumption and Mortality, Lopez-Garcia, M. van Dam, Li, Hu, Rodriguez-Artalejo, PubMed

  22. Coffee, The Nutrition Source - Harvard School of Public Health

  23. Is Bulletproof Coffee Organic?

  24. The Truth About Mycotoxins in Coffee, Dr. Ruscio

  25. Is Coffee Bad For You? Dr. Axe

  26. Mycotoxins: The Hidden Danger in Foods, Aycan Cinar & Elif Onbaşı - InTechOpen

  27. What is Acrylamide? And Why Does it Matter for Coffee? Liz Clayton - Sprudge


 

Why I Started "Healthy Swaps" for 2022


I've always found when wanting to make a major health or lifestyle change, it's easier to take it in little steps than to try and make a massive change on the spot. Mastering little steps has always been more successful in making the change a lasting habit for me, as opposed to a temporary phase. I've had friends ask me about my diet & eating habits, and as soon as I tell them, they come back with different variations of "Oh that's too hard," "That's so much work," and "I could never do that!"


Believe me, when I started down this path to a healthier lifestyle, I felt the same way! When I have food or beauty/household products that I love, I never want to give them up. However, slowly but surely, I made little changes here & there and now, it's a lifestyle I'm happy to embrace. Sure, it's still very hard some days to make the healthier choice, even with the research I'm learning on why [insert food/product] is bad for you, but it's definitely not as hard as it used to be and I'm still striving to improve every day.


So this year I decided to create the Healthy Swaps series! Every month, I will post a new blog post with a simple swap to make, and with these small changes made every month, we can be living a healthier lifestyle by the end of the year!



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