Ever wondered if you can eat those coffee grounds? I mean, they are full of rich aroma, and you resist purely because you don’t know if it’s the right thing to do with those grounds. Well, let’s clear some things up for you.
Can you eat coffee grounds? Yes, you can eat coffee grounds. They are edible and will not make you sick on consumption. Eating coffee grounds will give you a dash of caffeine and good amounts of antioxidants that are very beneficial to your body. Coffee grounds also come with dietary fiber and you won’t get this much fiber even from drinking coffee.
Is Eating Coffee Grounds Healthy?
Can you get sick from drinking old coffee grounds? Is it bad to eat coffee ground? Is eating coffee grounds healthy in any way?
These are all valid questions. Let me answer them for you.
Before we even started drinking coffee, we were eating coffee beans.
In fact, a research article shows that coffee beans were eaten daily by the people of Harar, Ethiopia.
Ground coffee isn’t much different from whole coffee beans. You just break whole beans increasing their surface area in the process for extracting their components better. This gives us the idea that eating coffee beans is nothing new, and eating coffee grounds shouldn’t create any problem healthwise.
When you brew your roasted coffee beans, you are diluting the nutrients present in the grounds. When you finish brewing, the concentrate you get from the process has all the goodness of liquid coffee. But the truth is that you lose some of it when compared to the coffee ground itself.
So if you’re looking to take in the undiluted nutrients from the coffee bean, you can do so by eating ground coffee. But be warned that ground coffee will also have the negatives such as mycotoxins.
When you eat the grounds, you consume these mycotoxins as well which are not that great for your body. So keeping eating your coffee grounds in moderation for the best health.
Another advantage with eating coffee ground is that you will get a hit of caffeine a lot sooner than from consuming a cup of joe. You can compare this with chewing tobacco. Though this doesn’t look like a good comparison, the way this works is very much the same. The mouth is capable of absorbing caffeine from the grounds a lot faster.
A word of warning to those with high cholesterol. When you eat coffee grounds, your body will get some harmful chemicals that will raise blood cholesterol. When you extract coffee, these harmful chemicals are eliminated in the process. When you skip this key step, you also get the risk of increasing your cholesterol level.
Also Read: Can You Eat Instant Coffee?
What Happens When You Eat Coffee Grounds?
As we mentioned already, coffee grounds come with both good and bad components. Eating coffee beans or grounds in moderation should pose any problems.
Let’s discuss the good things that happen to your body after eating coffee grounds.
Brewed coffee has been linked with the reduction of diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and gall stones. The good news is that eating coffee grounds will also give you a similar effect.
Coffee grounds also come with a good share of antioxidants. Chlorogenic acid is an antioxidant that helps in reducing diabetes and fights inflammation.
Eating coffee grounds can also present you with a laxative effect. Now, this can be good or bad depending on what you want. But if you’re looking to clean your innards, then this won’t be bad after all.
Now, for the bad part.
We told you that eating coffee beans and ground coffee can increase your cholesterol. Coffee beans come with diterpene compounds namely cafestol and kahweol. These two compounds are responsible for increasing your blood cholesterol.
If you already have high cholesterol, then you should avoid eating coffee ground or drinking unfiltered coffee like Turkish coffee, french press, and espresso.
Does Eating Coffee Grounds Give You Caffeine?
Yes, eating coffee grounds will give you caffeine. The lining of your mouth absorbs the caffeine content in the grounds much faster than from brewed coffee. So if you’re looking to get some quick energy, eating a small quantity of coffee grounds could be your answer.
How much caffeine is in a teaspoon of coffee grounds?
The average teaspoon can hold about 5 grams of ground coffee. Arabica coffee beans are said to have a caffeine content that is 1.2% of their mass. So you can expect around 60mg of caffeine in one teaspoon of arabica ground coffee.
Robusta coffee beans contain more caffeine than arabica coffee beans. So coffee grounds of robusta beans will give you more caffeine.
Caffeine is a natural stimulant that brings a ton of advantages to the table.
Caffeine boosts your energy, mood, alertness, and also your performance. It inhibits the hormone adenosine that is known to cause tiredness and drowsiness.
According to this research article, by taking the right amounts of caffeine, you can even lose some weight, thanks to improved metabolism.
How To Eat Your Coffee Grounds?
Eating coffee grounds directly in a teaspoon is something you should do only if it’s your first time. Once you do that you’ll realize that there must better ways of doing it.
If you plan on eating coffee grounds, then the best way to do it is by adding them as an ingredient to your cooking.
For example, you can mix coffee ground with the butter that goes into your pancakes. This will give your pancakes a rich coffee flavor and you’ll also get the benefits of raw coffee beans.
You can also add coffee as a spice. You can rub it on your pork, beef, and even fish. Chefs enjoy the earthy flavor coffee grounds impart on the meat. Coffee also softens the meat which makes it awesome for cooking.
There are many other ways you can utilize coffee grounds for cooking. If you don’t have coffee grounds, you can also use instant coffee the same way. But let’s try and stick to ground coffee.
You can also try chocolate covered coffee beans. Chocolate covered espresso beans are becoming famous as a snack and I love them too. You get the sweetness of the chocolate with the coffee flavor and they both elevate each other.
How To Drink Your Coffee Grounds?
You can drink your coffee grounds through various preparation methods.
One very famous method is Turkish coffee.
Also Read: Turkish coffee vs Espresso
For making Turkish coffee, you will be making use of fine coffee grounds, water, and a copper pot.
First, you’ll boil the water and sugar if needed. After it is done, you’ll add the fine coffee grounds and continue to boil. You’ll know once it is ready, so serve it with foam as it is customary for Turkish coffee.
If you still have doubts if you should consume coffee grounds, then Turkish coffee should solve that for you. This coffee is a very popular drink and people all over the world love it for its rich flavor.
Can You Eat Your Coffee Grounds? – Wrap up
Coffee drinkers can add a new way to consume coffee in their life by eating coffee grounds. You can add it in small parts in your cooking, in baking, in making ice cream, and in several other places.
Whether your favorite brewing method is espresso or the french press, eating grounds does add a new dimension to your roasted coffee bean.
So go ahead, if something has stopped you from eating raw coffee grounds, try that today. Just be sure to take it in moderation, and enjoy the hit of caffeine.