Brewing healthier coffee at the office might be one of the best choices you can make if your New Year’s resolutions include getting in shape. And the best part is, you don’t have to sacrifice great taste to get healthier coffee. (In some cases, it might even taste better!)
Health Benefits of Coffee
Ask any coffee lover and they will tell you that they are a better person after their first cup in the morning. While this bit of humor may or may not be true in your case, coffee does have positive effects on your health. According to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, drinking coffee not only boosts caffeine levels in your body, making you more alert and energized, but the antioxidants and other natural substances in coffee can help with inflammation, disease, and heart and brain health.
Here are five secrets to making great-tasting, healthier coffee at the office and at home.
Five Secrets To Healthier Coffee At The Office
1. Start With Purified Water
If you want to have healthier coffee at the office, you should start with purified, great-tasting water. This will ensure that your coffee is brewed without the minerals and inorganic contaminants present in tap water. Installing a purified water dispenser in your office break room is a great way to get great-tasting and filtered water that will make an equally great-tasting and healthy cup of coffee.
2. Use The Right Roast
Drinking the healthiest, most antioxidant and nutrient-packed coffee is closely related to the roast you select. Surprisingly, darker roasts that boast a richer, full-bodied taste are actually less healthy (and actually contain less caffeine) than their medium or light roast companions. This is because the heat used in the roasting process breaks down healthful compounds like antioxidants and polyphenols. The less time coffee beans are roasted, the more healthy compounds they retain.
3. Drink Your Coffee Black
This recommendation for making healthier coffee at the office may seem like a no-brainer. The more sweetener, milk, creamer, and such that you put in your cup of coffee, the less healthy that cup becomes. Not only are you increasing caloric intake, but, depending on what you add, you may be unknowingly consuming substances contained in these additives that you would never ingest normally.
A great way to work towards drinking black coffee sans sweeteners is to do it gradually. Start by switching to a lighter roast (which, as discussed above, will provide more of the healthful antioxidants and polyphenols in the coffee), then gradually cut back on the sweetener or creamer you add each day. This may seem hard at first, but before you even realize it, you’ll be drinking your coffee black and gaining all the healthy benefits.
4. Spice Things Up A Little
If switching to black coffee, even gradually, seems too hard, you can make healthier coffee at the office by swapping out the normal sweeteners and creamers in your breakroom for the following healthier alternatives:
- Plant-based milk
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Ginger
- Cardamom
- Vanilla extract
Adding spices to your cup of coffee can add a little natural sweetness and zing without overly increasing calories, and can give your taste buds a special treat. We particularly like adding a ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon and a couple of drops of vanilla extract to our black coffee – you won’t miss the sugary creamers!
If you choose plant-based milk, be sure to use the unsweetened variety.
5. Limit Caffeine After Lunch To Ensure A Good Night’s Sleep
There are many of us out there who love an afternoon cup of coffee to keep us going until 5:00. But studies have shown that consuming caffeine late in the day affects how well we sleep at night. So, if you really need that cup of coffee after lunch, we recommend switching to decaf coffee or teas. While both alternatives still have caffeine (with the exception of herbal teas of course), the amount of caffeine is far less than that found in a cup of regular coffee.
Colorado Pure: Making Healthier Coffee At The Office Has Never Been So Easy
Colorado Pure has been providing businesses up and down Colorado’s Front Range with outstanding service since 1997. Because we are locally- and family-owned and operated, our commitment to the health of our community is unparalleled. Contact us today to see how we can help your Southern Colorado business provide healthy and delicious coffee and tea to your employees and customers with our office coffee delivery services, state-of-the-art coffee machines, and other break room solutions.
Schedule your free consultation today!
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