For many people, mornings don’t officially begin until the first sip of coffee. But while we might be picky about our beans or roast, a new study suggests we should be just as selective about how we brew it. New research says the brewing method could be quietly raising our cholesterol—and filtered coffee may have the best health benefits.
Researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden found that brewing methods have a major impact on the presence of two compounds in coffee: cafestol and kahweol. These naturally occurring substances are found in coffee oils and have been shown to raise LDL cholesterol, the kind associated with artery buildup and heart disease.
The twist? The study says these compounds are not affected by roast level or bean variety—they’re present in every cup. What matters is how you prepare your coffee.
When coffee is made using paper filters—like in a standard drip machine or pour-over setup—most of these cholesterol-raising compounds are trapped before reaching your mug. But other methods like French press, espresso, moka pot, and many workplace machines with metal filters allow these compounds to pass right through.
And the difference isn’t small, either. Some workplace coffee machines produced coffee with cafestol levels up to 35 times higher than drip-filtered coffee. Espresso, depending on the machine and grind size, could reach even higher levels.
These findings add to a growing body of evidence showing the health benefits of filtered coffee that often go unnoticed. The study’s simulations suggest that if a person drinking three cups of high-cafestol coffee per workday switched to filtered coffee, their LDL cholesterol could drop significantly—enough to lower heart disease risk by up to 36 percent over 40 years.
If you’re brewing at home, switching to a paper filter system is an easy, inexpensive change. If your office machine uses metal filters, consider bringing your own filtered coffee from home in a thermos. And if you love to drink espresso, moderation might be key.
Coffee has long been a nutritional mystery, celebrated one day and questioned the next. But this research clears up at least one thing: when it comes to heart health, the filter matters more than the foam.
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