Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (7)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by D'AMICIS, A.
Right arrow Articles by BERNINI, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by D'AMICIS, A.
Right arrow Articles by BERNINI, A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© 1996 Oxford University Press

research-article

Italian Style Brewed Coffee: Effect on Serum Cholesterol in Young Men

AMLETO D'AMICIS*, CRISTINA SCACCINI*, GIANNI TOMASSI**, MICHELE ANACLERIO{dagger}, RODOLFO STORNELLI{dagger} and ALBERTO BERNINI{ddagger}

* National Institute of Nutrition via Ardeatina 546, 00178 Rome, Italy.
** University of La Tuscia Viterbo, Italy.
{dagger} Army Central Hospital and Military Health Headquarters Rome, Italy.
{ddagger} Army Medical School Florence, Italy.

BACKGROUND: Increases in blood lipids have been observed in humans when coffee is brewed by the boiling method. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if giving up Italian coffee might reduce blood cholesterol levels.

METHODS: Eighty-four normolipidaemic young adult males, after a 3-week baseline (BL), were randomly assigned to three different regimens of coffee consumption: espresso (E), mocha (M), and no coffee, but tea (T). The average coffee consumption during intervention (I) was 3.1 ± 1.2 and 2.8 ± 1.1 cups per day for espresso and mocha group respectively (espresso: 25–35 ml/cup; mocha: 40–50 ml/cup). Total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides were measured eight times during the study. Dietary pattern, alcohol consumption, smoking habits, drug use, and anthropometric data were also recorded.

RESULTS: The changes observed in serum cholesterol concentration between baseline and intervention were not statistically different in all groups. The changes were 0.0 mmol/l (T), +0.10 mmol/l (E) and +0.05 mmol/l (M) for total serum cholesterol; 0 mmol/l (T), –0.02 mmol/l (E) and –0.03 mmol/l (M) for HDL-C; –0.13 mmol/l (T), +0.02mmol/l (E) and –0.05 mmol/l (M) for LDL-C. Serum triglycerides showed asignificant increase during intervention (P < 0.01 by ANOVA) in all groups with a change of 0.18 mmol/l, 0.18 mmol/l and 0.22 mmol/l, for tea, espresso and mocha group respectively.

CONCLUSION: The results indicate that coffee brewed in the Italian way does not alter blood levels of total cholesterol HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol, since no significant differences were observed in these blood parameters after a 6-week break from coffee consumption.

Keywords espresso and mocha coffee, brewing methods, serum cholesterol, intervention study

Revised 1 November 1995


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.