What are the Health Benefits of Dark Roast Coffee?

What are the health benefits of Dark Roast Coffee? Which type of coffee do you prefer? Light or dark? This is a question that will persist for eternity for all the coffee aficionados. How you roast your coffee determines so much more than you can imagine. It affects the taste of your coffee. For how long and at what temperature you roast your coffee, to light, medium, or dark will determine the flavor profile of your coffee.

 

How do you identify dark roast coffee? Dark roast coffee has an oily sheen, and the coffee tastes more smoky and bitter than a light roast or medium roasted coffee. On the other hand, light roast coffee has no such sheen and has a more toasty and prominent acidic taste.

 

But which roast remains true to the original flavors of the coffee? It is largely retained in the dark roast coffee. To mention again, they don’t just differ in flavors, but also health benefits. You may wonder which option is healthier: light roast, medium roast, or dark roast?

 

The effects of coffee on our health has always been a brewing hot topic debated for years. While too much coffee was supposed to cause harmful effects to the heart as it slightly increases the blood pressure temporarily, now it is debated to have more health benefits than originally thought. The next question is, which coffee brings more health benefits?

 

People crave coffee as soon as they wake up, and in fact, it is beneficial because of its high antioxidant qualities. The first majorly documented benefit of dark roast coffee is its antioxidant nature. Now, we will look at a recent study by Korea’s Journal of Medicinal Food. Their study was determined to find which roasting method brews the healthiest coffee.

 

The researchers calculated and analyzed the various factors regarding the caffeine levels, roasting style, amount of chlorogenic acid, anti-inflammatory substances, and antioxidant content. The research focused on the different coffee bean’s roast types, including light, medium, city, and dark or French.

 

The coffee beans were roasted in all these different styles, and different cups of coffees were tested. Let’s find out what their result was.

 

The study suggested that there is no prominent difference in the caffeine levels of light and dark roast coffee. However, many people believe that due to the smoky and bitter flavor of dark roast coffee, it has more caffeine. But it is nothing more than just a misconception. The difference is so minute that the fluctuation of caffeine levels cannot be taken as significant.

 

On the other hand, the study proved that there was a significant difference in antioxidants and chlorogenic acid levels. The study reveals that the level of chlorogenic acid is higher in light roast coffee, and it keeps decreasing the more you roast the coffee. With this, we can comprehend that light roast coffee has more antioxidants than a dark roast. It is also revealed that dark roast coffee can successfully increase the Vitamin E content and glutathione content in the body. So overall, dark roast coffee comes with more benefits.

 

So, which coffee is more preferred? The answer to this question is that dark roast coffee is the one that is highly preferred by many.

 

The United States 2017 survey revealed that 833 out of 1983 people preferred a dark roast cup of coffee over medium or light. This shows that 42% preferred the dark roast and covered the majority. The preference jumped by 3% since the 2016 survey. With time, people are diverting more towards the dark roast coffee. Going forth, we will see the various reasons behind this diversion.

 

The Dark Roast Coffee

The shiniest and the darkest coffee bean with a great flavor profile that is bitter, less acidic, smoky, and heavy is the dark roasted coffee.

The dark roast coffee is popular and is known by various names in different countries. The various names it has gained are:

• French roast
• New Orleans
• Espresso
• Italian roast
• European roast
• Vienna roast
• Continental roast
• Full city

 

To achieve dark roast coffee, the coffee beans are roasted at a temperature ranging from 240 to 250 degrees Celsius until the second crack.

 

Let’s better understand dark roast coffee and its benefits. To begin with, we’ll address the most common question.

 

Is dark roast coffee stronger than a light roast?

This is the most common question and revolves mostly around the belief that dark roast coffee is stronger than a medium roast or light roast coffee. But is it?

The answer is that surprisingly, dark roast coffee is not stronger than light or medium roast. The strength of the coffee mainly depends on the ratio of water to the amount of coffee used. It can be made lighter or stronger, depending on how you prefer your cup of coffee.

 

An espresso tastes stronger than a usual brewed coffee. Espresso is made using a dark roast coffee, so many people believe that dark roast coffee is generally stronger than other types of roasted coffee. An expresso doesn’t taste stronger because it has dark roasted coffee but because the ratio of coffee grounds to water ranges from 1:1 to 1:3. In contrast, a normal brewed coffee has the ratio of coffee to water ranging from 1:14 to 1:16.

 

Aside from this ratio difference of coffee to water, other ingredients also affect the flavor profile of a dark roast coffee. A coffee that has chocolate or other earthy flavors can make it taste stronger than usual. If someone is not a coffee expert, they can be easily tricked into thinking that coffee tastes stronger if it has dark roast coffee with other ingredients.

 

To reiterate, the dark roast coffee is not stronger in taste than light roast or medium roast. The most common belief is false.

 

If you prefer strong coffee, you just add more coffee and less water and the opposite if you prefer your coffee not so strong.

 

Let us understand dark roast coffee a little more before considering all of its benefits in detail.

 

                      The Roasting Process

The coffee beans go through a few different steps before they are brewed into a perfect coffee cup. The first step is to pick the right coffee beans, and these beans are then processed either wet or dry. Then, these coffee beans are further milled, and their skin is removed. These sample beans are then tested and blended with other beans to produce different roasts like a breakfast blend. The final beans are bagged and are sent to the manufacturers.

 

An odorless, white crystal called acrylamide is produced during the roasting process. The amount of acrylamide increases with the heat and then declines. A dark roast coffee will contain lower amounts of this crystal and also less caffeine.

 

The dark roast coffee gets the “dark” from the bean’s end color, which it attains after being roasted for a certain amount of time.

Now that we know about the dark roast coffee in detail, let us see the health benefits it offers.

 

Health Benefits of Dark Roast Coffee

Since it has been established that dark roast coffee is not stronger than a medium or light roast, now we’ll see all the benefits it has over light and medium roast coffee.

 

Coffee generally brings many health benefits, but here we will focus only on the health benefits that dark roast coffee has.

 

Based on various studies, it is very clear that dark roast coffee is beneficial for a person in many ways.

 

Weight Loss

Studies have proven that dark roast coffee can help and promote weight loss. This research study involved 30 participants. This group of 30 people was divided into two groups. One of the groups was given dark roast coffee, and the other was given light roast coffee. The test lasted for four weeks. For four weeks, each group consumed 500ml of allotted coffee every day.

 

Researchers collected their blood and urine samples before and after the four weeks of the study period to analyze the effects of the roasted coffee on each member of the different groups.

 

The study revealed that every member of the group that consumed dark roast coffee lost significant weight.

 

Now the question arises of which compound in the dark roast coffee promotes this weight loss? The dark roast coffee is enriched with N-methyl pyridinium ions. These ions are responsible for the decline in weight.

 

The N-methyl pyridinium is formed when the coffee beans are roasted. When the coffee is roasted for a long time, a product called trigonelline degrades. Since dark roast coffee is roasted for the longest time, trigonelline reduces, and a huge amount of N-methyl pyridinium is formed. This compound is much less in the light roast coffee.

 

This explains why and how dark roast coffee successfully promotes weight loss.

If you are health conscious and cannot miss out on your coffee, dark roast coffee is your way to go.

 

Restores Vitamin E, Red Blood Cells and Glutathione

Studies show that dark roast coffee can effectively restore vitamin E, red blood cells, and glutathione concentration. Both glutathione and vitamin E are antioxidants. Therefore, the dark roast coffee helps our body to get free of toxins.

 

Based on many research studies, it is proven that although light roast coffee has antioxidants, dark roast coffee is more effective and has higher concentrations of these antioxidants.

 

This study proved that by testing the same group of people for four weeks, it was analyzed that there was an increase in glutathione and tocopherol concentrations in the participants.

 

Stomach-Friendly

Dark roast coffee is not only beneficial for weight loss, but also the compound N-methyl pyridinium is stomach-friendly.

 

Another research study proved that the compound N-methyl pyridinium could help in producing less gastric acid.

 

Many people face irritation in their stomach after consuming coffee, so many coffee lovers give up on coffee because of an irritable stomach. This happens because regular coffee promotes the production of gastric acid. This problem does not occur in the case of dark roast coffee.

 

Based on test results, experts have concluded that dark roast coffee has twice the nutrients than a light roast, although this is ongoing research, and concrete data has yet to come out.

 

Coffee generally is a complex object of research since various kinds of coffee beans differ in flavor, origin, roasting type, and blend.

 

Lower Acidic Level

How is acidity really defined in coffee? Acidity does not reach just our taste buds, but it also has other effects on our bodies. There are three ways by which we can define acidity in coffee. These three ways are by testing the pH scale, effect on our stomach, and taste.

 

PH Scale

The first acidity test can be performed by measuring the acidity on a pH Scale. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14. 0 means the most acidic, and 14 means most basic or alkaline.

 

PH level seven means neutral, and when the scale decreases by 1, it predicts that the subject is acidic by ten times.

 

An experiment was conducted that compared the pH levels of the light and dark roast coffee. For this experiment, an Ethiopian blend was picked, and water at pH level 8.12 was selected as the common base.

 

Some amounts of this Ethiopian blend were roasted at a temperature of 203 degrees Celsius for nine minutes until it reached the midpoint of the first crack.

The other half of the Ethiopian blend coffee was roasted at a temperature of 223 Celsius for 16 minutes until the second crack.

 

The pH level of lightly roasted coffee came out to be 4.89, while on the other hand, the pH level of dark roast coffee came out to be 5.96.

 

The difference between the pH levels of these two roasts was 1.07. This reveals that the lightly roasted coffee is 10.7 times more acidic than dark roast coffee, which will have a completely different impact on your body.

 

This significant difference in the pH level will affect the taste of both the coffees as well. Your taste buds can very easily taste this difference.

 

Coffee made by light roast coffee beans has a very bright and light taste, almost similar to that of a mild lemon juice.

 

In contrast, coffee made from the dark roasted coffee beans has a heavier and rounder feel.

 

The pH scale result may vary with different blends and different coffee beans, but the coffee’s acidity keeps reducing with longer roasting time.

 

Effect on our Stomach

Since we have seen above that there is a significant difference in the pH levels between the light and dark roast coffee, we understand that both have different effects on our stomach.

 

We have also established that dark roast coffee is more stomach-friendly.

Some people face an upset stomach after consuming coffee, and they find the reason to be the acidity levels. Different people will face different effects of coffee based on the type of coffee blend they consume and the type of roast.

 

Here, we are discussing the general effects of coffee on our health. These may not be true for everyone. If you face an upset stomach or high acidity even when you consume dark roast coffee, it is better to visit a doctor.

 

Taste

Lastly, we will see how the taste of the coffee differs depending on the pH level and acidity. In other terms, it is about the sparkling flavors and brightness in taste.

 

As discussed earlier, the flavor of a coffee made with dark roast coffee beans usually has a smoky, heavy, and round flavor.

 

It is because of the roasting process that overshadows the bright flavors of the coffee. Some coffee drinkers have to say that they mostly taste a bitter and smoky flavor in a dark roast coffee. It is the roasting process that masks the original flavors.

 

Since light roast coffee is more acidic, it has a brighter and tangier taste than a dark roast.

 

But again, dark roast coffee is not stronger than light, but it is heavier and bolder than it. To signify this topic once and for all, let’s look at other possibilities.

 

Since acidity has already been addressed, it is clear that light roast coffee is more acidic. So, in this case, dark roast coffee is not stronger than the light. But what about flavor, aroma, and caffeine content?

 

Flavor

The flavors of coffee are complex and exciting since they can differ with different combinations in terms of the type of coffee bean, type of roast, and blend.

 

The roasting process affects the flavor by either overshadowing the original taste or by enhancing it. The longer the roasting period, the more the flavors get overshadowed.

 

These are the various flavor profiles of a coffee:

• Sour
• Acidic
• Sharp
• Mellow
• Bland
• Winey
• Pungent
• Harsh

The roasting process cannot be performed at home, and not every type of coffee bean will taste good with a dark roast.

 

A dark roast complements the coffee flavor by making it more full-bodied, rich, and flavorful. On the other hand, hints of berry and citrusy flavors complement a light roast coffee.

 

The chocolate and caramel flavors go better with a dark roast without making it any stronger.

 

Aroma

The roasting process also defines the aroma of the coffee. An aroma cannot be stronger or lighter in terms of coffee. Rather, there are different styles of aromas depending on the roast and blend of the coffee beans.

 

Does the dark roast coffee smell stronger than a light roast? No, the dark roast has a different aroma than the others.

 

The aroma contributes to the flavor profile, which makes understanding coffee even more complex. To understand the aroma better, this is how the coffee experts describe them:

• Herby
• Caramelly
• Nutty
• Flowery
• Resinous
• Fruity
• Carbony
• Spicy

 

With the different roasting processes, the aroma for some coffee beans remains the same, while, for some, they become better and stronger.

 

In dark roast coffee, the aroma showcased is spicy, caramelly, and chocolatey, while the light roast showcases fruity, herby, and flowery aromas.

 

But again, this does not conclude that a caramelly aroma is stronger than a fruity aroma. The aromas cannot be compared in terms of strength, but in terms of different flavors.

 

Caffeine Content

The caffeine content doesn’t differ much with the type of roast. The shiny and dark appearance of a coffee bean may make you think that it has more caffeine, but that is not the case. Like the strength, the caffeine content does not differ greatly in light and dark roast coffee. If someone prefers more caffeine, they can simply add on more coffee grounds.

 

The caffeine content may not differ with the type of roast, but it changes with coffee beans. For example, the caffeine content differs in Robusta and Arabica type of coffee beans.

 

An Arabica coffee bean has caffeine ranging from 84 to 580 mg, one percent of its total weight, while a Robusta coffee bean has more caffeine content. It has about 232 to 800mg of caffeine, which is two percent of its total weight.

 

If you compare the caffeine levels of the same species of coffee beans, you will find no difference. Again, the caffeine content does not depend on the type of roast.

 

Conclusion

The dark roast coffee is also popularly known as Vienna roast or French roast. It is the darkest known roast and stores significant coffee oil.

 

It produces a smoky, heavy, and less acidic coffee and is roasted until the second crack.

 

The dark roasted coffee brings many health benefits.

It promotes weight loss. It increases vitamin E and glutathione in the blood, which has great antioxidants. They are less acidic and very stomach-friendly. It also reduces gastric gases, which makes coffee consumption better.

 

The dark roast coffee is not stronger than light or medium roast. The amount of caffeine is also not different among these. The light roast and dark roast coffee differ in terms of acidity, flavor, aroma, taste, and caffeine content. That covers all of the health benefits of Dark Roast Coffee.