If you’re like millions of others, starting the day with a cup of coffee is required. You might grind and brew it at home, slap in a k-cup, visit your favorite coffee shop or, when desperate, turn to that decade old and kinda nasty coffee machine at work. That hot cup provides a few precious moments to relax and gather our thoughts. When the caffeine kicks in, it helps us to focus and productive. It gets things moving, literally!
Yet, as glorious as a rich cup of coffee can be, having a stomach ache for the rest of the day has forced many to abandon our favorite breakfast drink. Why does coffee irritate? For many years, we all assumed that it was the overall pH or acid level of coffee that was the trigger for our symptoms. However, research by Dr. Takayuki Shibamoto, Distinguished Professor at the UC Davis Department of Environmental Toxicology, has found that one specific acid, chlorogenic acid, causes the majority of irritation and bitterness seen in most conventional coffees. Chlorogenic acid is produced when beans are roasted using hot steel drums rather than hot air. Most national coffee producers in the USA use industrial steel drum processing.
If you love the big national coffee brands and chains, your first line of defense is using Prelief, a calcium based dietary supplement available in caplets or a powder format that helps to reduce the acid in foods and beverages that you eat to minimize acid discomfort. Just two caplets of Prelief can reduce up to 97.5% of the acid in a 6 oz cup of coffee. Prelief is a quick and easy “go to” anytime you’re drinking or eating a food that might give you discomfort due to its acidity.
But you’ll also want to look at the small batch coffee companies that are now booming in cities and small towns across the country. They generally purchase higher quality beans and roast them in small every day resulting in very fresh coffee. Many also use custom, hot air roasting processes that minimize acids. The Bella Rosa Coffee Company, a small batch coffee roaster located in Northern California, has the lowest level of chlorogenic acid in the nation and is one of our favorites. Their coffees contain several hundred times less chlorogenic acid than most conventional coffees (.00171 ml of CA vs. 6mg per ml).
Whether you enjoy coffee, tea or hot chocolate, don’t let acid upset your day. Prelief can help you enjoy that cup of coffee again