On Food and Cooking

diseases, including cancers, so they were
among the many pleasures to feel guilty
about. No longer! Coffee is now recognized as
the major source of antioxidant compounds in
the American diet (medium roasts have the
highest antioxidant activity). Black and
especially green teas are also rich in
antioxidant and other protective phenolic
compounds that appear to reduce damage to
arteries and cancer risk.
Certain kinds of brewed coffee do turn out
to have an undesirable effect on blood
cholesterol levels. Two lipid (fat-like)
substances, cafestol and kahweol, raise those
levels, though they only get into the coffee
when the brewing technique doesn’t filter
them out. Boiled, plunger-pot, and espresso
coffees contain them. The significance of this
effect isn’t known and may well be small,
since the cholesterol raisers are accompanied
by a large dose of substances that protect the
cholesterol from oxidation and causing