Hi I’m Sammy,

Your Good Farm in-house nutritionist. Here to bring you essential information on nutrition, diet and permaculture gardening - in a bite size, easy to understand, science-backed way.

Before we get into it, I'd love to introduce you to something I've been working on with The Good Farm Shop. It's The Good Farm Good Guide (first edition). This isn't just a magazine, it's a year-round reference for building a healthier home from the ground up and designed to sit on your kitchen counter and get used all year long.

Now...onto the blog!

Coffee: Friend or Foe?

Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world and, for many of us, the day doesn't really begin until that first cup is in our hands.

Like many foods, coffee isn't simply good or bad. Its effects depend on the quality of the beans, how it's prepared, when it's consumed and, perhaps most importantly, the person drinking it.

Native to the highlands of Ethiopia, coffee has been cultivated for centuries before spreading throughout Yemen, Central and South America, Africa and parts of Asia. Today, coffee is grown across what is known as the "Bean Belt", a band around the equator where warm days, cooler nights and seasonal rainfall provide ideal growing conditions. Countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Guatemala and Indonesia are among the world's largest producers. Like wine, coffee reflects the place where it is grown. Soil, altitude, rainfall and climate all influence its flavour, aroma and chemical composition.

Most of us drink coffee for the caffeine, believing it gives us energy. Caffeine doesn't create energy. Instead, it temporarily blocks adenosine, a chemical that gradually builds throughout the day and signals to the brain that it's time to rest. At the same time, it stimulates the nervous system, increasing alertness and, in some people, the release of stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol.

That's why a coffee can make us feel more awake, even though it hasn't produced any new energy. If you're constantly relying on coffee to get through the day, it's worth asking whether it's masking poor sleep, inadequate nutrition or chronic stress.

Fortunately, coffee offers far more than caffeine. Coffee naturally contains hundreds of plant compounds, including chlorogenic acids, polyphenols and melanoidins formed during roasting. These compounds have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, helping protect our cells from oxidative stress. They also appear to support metabolic health, the gut microbiome and liver function. In fact, because coffee is consumed so widely, it is one of the largest sources of antioxidants in many Western diets.

Large population studies have consistently linked moderate coffee consumption with lower rates of type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and liver disease. Research has also associated regular coffee intake with a lower risk of several cancers, particularly liver and endometrial cancer.

Coffee is one of the world's most heavily traded agricultural commodities and, depending on where it is grown, conventional production can involve significant pesticide and herbicide use. Choosing organic coffee where possible can help reduce exposure to agricultural chemicals while supporting farming systems that place greater emphasis on soil health, biodiversity and the health of the farmers working within those environments.

Coffee is grown in warm, humid climates, which means beans can become contaminated with moulds if harvesting, drying or storage conditions are poor. Some of these moulds produce compounds known as mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are just one of many compounds our liver and detoxification systems process each day alongside pesticides, air pollution and other environmental contaminants. Choosing high-quality coffee from reputable producers, and where possible organic beans, is one way to help minimise that overall exposure. You may also notice some brands marketing their coffee as mycotoxin tested or mycotoxin free. These companies voluntarily test their beans for mycotoxins, providing consumers with an additional level of reassurance about how the coffee has been sourced, processed and stored.

Keep an eye out for coffee labelled shade-grown. Rather than being grown in large open monocultures, these coffee plants are cultivated beneath a canopy of trees. This provides habitat for birds and beneficial insects, helps protect the soil from erosion and supports a healthier, more diverse ecosystem.

Many people reach for coffee the moment they wake up, but our bodies naturally produce a surge of cortisol in the first 30 to 45 minutes after waking to help us feel alert. Some people find delaying their first coffee for around an hour allows this natural wake-up response to occur before adding caffeine, leading to steadier energy throughout the morning.

It is also generally better enjoyed with or after a meal rather than on an empty stomach. Traditionally, coffee was often served with cream, full-fat milk or alongside food. Pairing it with a meal containing protein, healthy fats and fibre can provide more sustained energy than coffee alone and may help reduce the blood sugar highs and lows that some people experience after drinking it on an empty stomach.

Caffeine has an average half-life of around five to six hours, although this varies considerably from person to person. That means half the caffeine from your lunchtime coffee may still be circulating in your body well into the evening.

If you're struggling with your sleep, try having your last coffee before midday and pay attention to how you feel. You might even like to experiment with reducing your intake or taking a short break from coffee altogether. Our tolerance to caffeine can gradually increase over time, meaning the same cup no longer produces the same effect and we may find ourselves reaching for more. A good way to know how something affects you is to remove it for a period of time and then reintroduce it.

If you regularly buy takeaway coffee, it's worth knowing that most disposable takeaway cups are lined with a thin layer of plastic to make them waterproof. Hot liquids can promote the release of microplastics and other compounds from these linings into the drink. While we're still learning about the long-term health implications of microplastic exposure, reducing unnecessary exposure where practical is a sensible precaution. It's unlikely to be one takeaway coffee that makes the difference, but rather the accumulation of many small, everyday exposures over time.

Disposable coffee cups are also a significant source of waste. Despite appearing to be paper, most cannot be recycled through standard kerbside recycling because of their plastic lining. Carrying a reusable cup is one small habit that may help reduce both waste and unnecessary exposure to microplastics.

The most important point to finish on is that coffee is highly individual. Genetics, stress levels, sleep quality, hormones and even certain medications all influence how we process caffeine. One person may happily enjoy a couple of coffees a day, while another feels anxious or sleeps poorly after just one.

It's another reminder that nutrition is rarely one-size-fits-all. Knowing your own body and paying attention to how it responds is often the best place to start, not just with coffee, but with everything we eat and drink.

My Morning Coffee

I drink coffee most days after breakfast, usually around mid-morning. It's more of a ritual than something I rely on to wake up or function. If I'm going through a particularly stressful period, I usually ditch coffee altogether because it tends to add fuel to the fire rather than help. At the moment, this is my favourite way to enjoy it.

Sammy's Collagen Coffee

1 shot espresso or 1 cup freshly brewed coffee

200 mL unhomogenised full-fat milk (I love unhomogenised milk because it's one step less processed and the extra cream rises to the top, so don't fear the fat!)

1 scoop unflavoured collagen peptides (also known as hydrolysed collagen), preferably from Australian grass-fed cattle

¼ teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Blend or whisk until frothy.

Collagen peptides, also known as hydrolysed collagen, are simply collagen that has been broken down into smaller pieces so it dissolves easily into hot or cold drinks. During this postpartum period, I'm making a conscious effort to include collagen-rich foods such as homemade bone broth and slow-cooked gelatinous cuts of meat, while also adding collagen peptides to cakes, hot chocolates and my coffee.

Combined with full-fat milk and enjoyed after breakfast, it turns my coffee into something a little more nourishing and satisfying than coffee on its own.

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References

Poole R, Kennedy OJ, Roderick P, Fallowfield JA, Hayes PC, Parkes J. Coffee consumption and health: umbrella review of meta-analyses of multiple health outcomes. BMJ. 2017;359.

van Dam RM, Hu FB, Willett WC. Coffee, caffeine, and health. New England Journal of Medicine. 2020;383(4):369-378.

Cornelis MC. The impact of caffeine and coffee on human health. Nutrients. 2019;11(2):416.

Godos J, Pluchinotta FR, Marventano S, et al. Coffee components and cardiovascular risk: beneficial and detrimental effects. International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition. 2014;65(8):925-936.

Nieber K. The impact of coffee on health. Planta Medica. 2017;83(16):1256-1263.

Grosso G, Godos J, Galvano F, Giovannucci EL. Coffee, caffeine, and health outcomes: an umbrella review. Annual Review of Nutrition. 2017;37:131-156.

Farah A. Coffee: Emerging Health Effects and Disease Prevention. Wiley-Blackwell. 2012.

Specialty Coffee Association. Coffee Standards. Current edition.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). Food safety standards and guidance relating to contaminants in food.

Jo Robinson. Eating on the Wild Side. Little, Brown Spark. 2013.