Coffee Flour May Be the Newest Health Craze

The team who invented the healthy fat blend in Smart Balance buttery spread have developed another product that could become popular with nutrition enthusiasts and consumers.

Biophysicist Dan Perlman and nutritionist K.C. Hayes have created coffee powder - made from the partially baked coffee bean. According to Hayes, this method of roasting coffee beans can enhance the health benefits, allowing consumers to use the end product as a nutritional supplement in powder form.

Chlorogenic acid, or CGA, is an antioxidant found in coffee that is thought to be partially responsible for java's health benefits. When coffee is roasted the traditional way in high temperatures, however, the CGA content is reduced significantly - sometimes even by half.

Metabolism, blood sugar management, heart health

Perlman and Hayes researched how coffee beans would be changed if they were roasted for less time at a lower temperature. They found that this method helped to keep CGA in the coffee beans.

While some studies have shown that coffee extract supplements have health benefits, the research around CGA is much stronger, the authors reported. CGA's benefits may include improved metabolism, better blood sugar and boosted heart health.

While coffee beans roasted this way can't be used to make traditional coffee - there isn't enough flavor - powder made from the beans could be used in baking or in manufaturing breakfast cereals or snack bars.

"At the end of the process, you get a wheat-colored flour," a news release about Perlman and Hayes' invention stated. "Its taste is nutty, pleasant and mild."

Source:Brandeis University