title: The cholesterol-raising factor from coffee beans.
abstract: Some coffee brewing techniques raise the serum concentration of total and low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol in humans, whereas others do not. The responsible factors are the diterpene lipids cafestol and kahweol, which make up about 1% (wt:wt) of coffee beans. Diterpenes are extracted by hot water but are retained by a paper filter. This explains why filtered coffee does not affect cholesterol, whereas Scandinavian "boiled," cafetiere, and Turkish coffees do. We describe the identification of the cholesterol-raising factors, their effects on blood levels of lipids and liver function enzymes, and their impact on public health, based on papers published up to December 1996.
authors.affiliation: Wageningen Agricultural University, Department of Human Nutrition, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Urgert
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Katan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D056486:Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury; D003069:Coffee / Q000737:chemistry*; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000139:chemically induced; D004224:Diterpenes / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000139:chemically induced*; D007223:Infant
chemical_list: D003069:Coffee; D004224:Diterpenes; C053401:kahweol; C053400:cafestol