Instant coffee vs Ground coffee: Which is healthier?

Researchers have found that knocking back a cappuccino or two every day can:

help you live longer, halve your chance of liver damage, make you poop, improve your performance in the gym, help kill cancer cells and even prevent dental cavities.

But here’s where things get complicated: can you get all of these health benefits from instant coffee, or is ground coffee when it comes to your health?

According to dietitian,you can rest easy – for the most part, instant coffee has (almost) all of the health benefits of its more expensive counterpart.

Instant coffee is literally just 100 percent coffee beans that have been roasted, ground and brewed with water into a liquid, then dehydrated, so it has the same health benefits as ground coffee beans.

The differences between instant and ground coffee are pretty negligible, but there may be a small difference in terms of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and caffeine levels.

The main difference is found in potassium levels, with ground coffee having more than double the potassium of instant.

There is evidence to suggest that the antioxidants are comparable in instant and ground coffee, with one study finding that instant coffee actually had more of some antioxidants,

We need to remember that we can find high amounts of antioxidants in our fruits and vegetables too however, coffee isn’t the sole source in our diet!

“The main difference between instant coffee and ground coffee, is the amount of caffeine,” explains dietitian.

One cup of instant coffee contains 60-80mg of caffeine. On the other hand, a ground or brewed coffee contains 60-120mg of caffeine per cup. More caffeine isn’t necessarily always a good thing however, as it will impact each individual differently.

The impact that the sheer amount of coffee will have on your health – regardless of variety – is largely down to dosage: indulge in a little for maximum benefit, but go too far and you’ll start to suffer from some unpleasant side effects.

The positive effects of caffeine include improved physical and cognitive performance, increased mental alertness and decreased fatigue.

On the other hand, the negative effects of caffeine include insomnia, jitteriness, nervousness, irritability, rapid heart rate and headaches.

Caffeine has a half-life of around four to six hours, therefore the effects of caffeine can continue for hours after we actually consumed it.
Read more at  The Coach