Is drinking black coffee good for you? Coffee often gets a bad wrap in the health industry, thanks in part to all the low-grade coffee available in the world.
Did you know there are many health benefits to coffee? Even just a cup a day, coffee can help with weight loss and health problems. In this video, I’ll share with you some of the scientifically proven health benefits of coffee.
Also, coffee holds a special place in many esoteric traditions believed to have magical properties for spiritual cleansing.
In spite of its bad rap in the health profession, there are many health benefits of drinking black coffee. So, no more need to feel guilty about keeping coffee as part of your daily routine!
Health Benefits of Drinking Black Coffee
By drinking just one cup of coffee a day, you can reduce your risk of many life-threatening diseases.
- Coffee contains thousands of antioxidants that help fight free radicals. High-quality Arabica coffee contains double the antioxidants than regular coffee and is free of mold and mycotoxin.
- Coffee can help with weight loss; research has shown it to boost metabolism, dramatically increase fat-burning potential.
- Coffee helps you exercise better. Studies have also proven caffeine to be one of the most effective supplements for improving exercise.
- Drinking up to two cups of black coffee per day is good for you because it can reduce the risk of heart failure.
- Coffee enhances the firing of neurons in the brain. Studies have also shown it improves brain functions, including mood, energy levels, reaction time, memory retention, and general cognitive function.
- Finally, drinking black coffee has been shown to lower the risk of developing depression.
Something you should keep in mind, though, to take advantage of coffee’s medicinal benefits, you must get high-quality coffee.
Esoteric Benefits of Drinking Black Coffee
From an esoteric perspective, it has long been believed coffee also carries with its magical healing properties.
• Coffee has been attributed with magical properties that are grounding, stimulating, banishing negativity and negative thoughts, inducing peace of mind, and the ability to banish nightmares and dispel internal blockages.
• Ritual baths and coffee incense, for instance, were used to drive away negative spirits. Coffee was also used for divination.
Behind the Bean, Growing Black Coffee in Latin America
I recently traveled to Bogota, Colombia, to meet with the Méxican consulate to apply for my residency card. During my week there, I decided to take in some sightseeing. Figuring I was in Colombia, I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to book a tour at a nearby coffee plantation.
The plantation I visited is in Fusagasá, about an hour outside of Bogota. There I got to see firsthand the entire process of growing, producing, and roasting coffee.
As well, I learned just how competitive the coffee industry is. For instance, I discovered that the average wholesale price of the highest quality green organic coffee in Columbia would run about $7 a pound. Of that, the farmer only receives about two cents on the dollar!
I’ve seen online in the United States; there is a trend called “pour-over coffee.” It involves filters and fancy equipment for the “perfect cup of coffee.” I recently saw a video demonstrating this and realized it’s the same way I make my coffee here at home in Playa del Carmen. Just not as fancy.
My Recipe for Making and Drinking Black Coffee at My Home Here in Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Living in Playa del Carmen, My preference is for Mexican coffee—locally sourced Arabica beans from the state of Oaxaca.
Plus, buying locally grown Mexican coffee gives me the added peace of mind to support local farmers here in my community.
My love for coffee began in the late ’90s at the height of Starbuck’s popularity in the US. In the early 2000s, I worked for a brief time at one of the first locations in San Francisco, at the famous Fisherman’s Wharf. I had forgotten how much I loved learning the coffee education Starbucks provides its employees.
I’ve seen online in the United States; there is a trend called “pour-over coffee.” It involves filters and fancy equipment for the “perfect cup of coffee.” I recently saw a video demonstrating this and realized it’s the same way I make my coffee here at home in Playa del Carmen. Just not as fancy.
If you’ve spent any time in Mexico, you know that most of us need fresh water delivered to the house. I get my clean drinking water refilled down the street in reusable garrafon bottles.
I use the small pump to fill my pitcher that goes in the refrigerator. It’s easier than lifting the garrafon every time, but I often forget to refill the pitcher and leave it empty in the fridge.
My process for making my fresh coffee each morning is relatively straightforward. It’s a method I learned here in México during a weekend ayahuasca retreat.
- I heat the water in the small pot on the little two-burner gas stove. Once I’ve added the water, I add about two tablespoons of medium ground coffee for about a single cup.
- I usually keep an eye on the pot until the oils in the coffee start to create the crema on top, and the water is just beginning to get hot enough to boil.
I’m an early riser, usually waking up around four AM. So, I’m not particularly eager to wait very long for my first cup. And besides, if I wait for the water to boil, it just tastes burnt. I love my coffee black, no sugar, but I’m not a fan of super hot or burnt coffee.
I love my early morning routine. It’s peaceful and quiet outside at that hour of the morning. I love to sit out on my terrace, enjoying my first coffee cup before the rest of the world wakes up.
After a couple of cups, I’ll head back into the kitchen where my workstation is step and start my work for the day. I find I am the most creative and productive during the early hours. If I wait too long to get started, sometimes my day’s just shot, and I might as well head out to the beach for the rest of the day.
Since I’ve been working at home for the better part of the last twenty-four years, I’m reasonably disciplined in my morning routine. And the first coffee cup is definitely one of the best parts of waking up each day.
[Video] Is Drinking Black Coffee Good for You?
Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. But, be respectful. If you do not have something to positively adding value to the conversation and helping empower others, please keep any negative or thoughtless opinions to yourself. Have the courage to share your truth—it’s more cathartic than you might think.
Credits and Resources:
- Cover/Featured Image from Adobe Stock. The rest of the images used in this blog post were taken from a trip I took to Bogota, Colombia in 2019.
- Image used in video:
- https://ehsthelongrun.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/image-brazil-handler-tuite.png
- https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/20703351726/
- https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/20541585900/
- https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/20736459391/
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- Unger, Richard W – Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (Amazon)
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- Stuart Lee Allen – The Devil’s Cup Coffee, the Driving Force in History (Amazon)
- Jonathan Morris – Coffee A Global History (Amazon)
- History of Colombian Coffee
- An overview of the Mexican coffee industry
- Coffee: Myth, Folklore, and Magical Properties
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