Coffee beans may be very familiar to you because of their use in brewing coffee, unlike the coffee berries which have just recently reemerged in the market because of their usefulness in promoting sound health.
This article highlights the uses, health benefits, possible downsides to including coffee berries in your diets. You can also buy Coffee Berry Extract here.
Uses of coffee berries.
Otherwise known as coffee fruit. The basic ingredient for making coffee tea, coffee beans, are housed in coffee berries. hence, they are universally used in coffee production, although the coffee berries are usually discarded after extracting the beans from them, they can be used as fertilizers or livestock feed.
The skin of coffee berries can be combined with other fruit juices. They can also be processed into a drink powder.
Recently, discoveries have shown that coffee berries are a superfood that can be used as ingredients for making nutritional supplements, herbal tea, beauty products, essential oils, and other stimulants asides from coffee.
Now that we are clear on the uses of coffee berries, let’s deep dive into how they are beneficial to your health and the possible risks of consuming these berries.
What are the health benefits of coffee berries?
1. May lower blood pressure. The heart becomes weak over time due to the resulting strain from high blood pressure.
Coffee berries are very rich in chlorogenic acids which are found to be of significant use in lowering blood pressure and improving the heart’s overall health.
2. They are powerful antioxidants. Antioxidants are compounds that help protect you from oxidation which may result from free radicals. This reduces the risk of many chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and other chronic diseases.
Scientific studies reveal that coffee berries contain helpful antioxidants like chlorogenic acid, rutin, protocatechuic acid, and gallic acids.
Clinical tests conducted on animals reveal that coffee berries can be used as an antitumor agent in suppressing the growth of tumors. They are also immune boosters.
Athletes who took 800mg of coffee berries to extract for 4 weeks in a study conducted in 2008 were noticed to have experienced improved antioxidant capacity.
3. Promote brain health. Various studies show that coffee berries have a positive effect on brain-derived neurotrophic factors. These BDNFs are crucial for long-term memory formation and storage.
According to a trusted source, a clinical study reveals that 71 older adults with mild mental decline who consumed coffee berry extracts for 28 days witnessed a significant decrease in their reaction time. Other studies show that taking 100 mg of coffee fruit concentrate increased levels of BDNF by 143% within just 2 hours.
Other possible health benefits can be found in how these berries help promote fat loss, boost immunity and serve as anticancer agents.
What are the downsides?
Coffee berries are deemed to be safe when consumed in moderation as they contain lower levels of caffeine.
Those with caffeine allergies may however experience a negative impact on their health as the smallest intake of caffeine poses a great risk to them.