At times, you might have felt the heartburn or acidity after drinking a cup of coffee. So is coffee acidic or alkaline? May be it is about time that you finally find out the truth.
Being a coffee lover, you must know about the pH of coffee and its chemical nature. Usually, substances or liquids with a pH of less than seven are considered to be acidic.
If you are thinking of coffee to be acidic, then somewhere you might be right because it’s pH is around 4.7 to 5. Coffee contains several acidic substances that end up making it a quite acidic drink.
How Acidic is Coffee?
Coffee contains around 30 acids, which may vary with the quality and origin of the coffee bean. Not all the acids used in the manufacture of coffee are harmful. In fact, some of them have very positive and healthy effects on the human body.
There is a prominent line between acid and acidity. That means, not every acid causes acidity and heartburn issues. Some of them might be very healthy for the human body. Such as, acids like chlorogenic acid are useful for weight loss. Some acids like phosphoric or malic acid just add up taste into your coffee.
But acids like Quinic acid can cause serious adverse effects on the digestive system. Acidity producing acids are few. One can easily decrease the acid content percentage in the coffee beans by taking care of this acidity, causing substances.
Various Acids in Your Coffee
Acids like malic acid or acetic acid are easily detectable when present in a coffee. They add up to its taste, flavor, and texture.
For example, without lactic acid, your coffee might be missing that creamy smooth texture. Without malic and citric acid, you will be missing out on the real taste and flavor of it.
What fun will there if you cannot enjoy your coffee to the fullest?
Giving Up Coffee due to Acidity?
You don’t have to skip your coffee drinks just because it comprises of different acids. Do you want to know why? Well, coffee acidity is not harmful to everyone. Especially, if you are a person with strong immune system and healthy body, then these acids won’t have any adverse effects upon you.
But if you feel something burning up inside of you because of coffee or drinking coffee makes you sick, then some simple ways can decrease the acidity and the burning pains caused because of your coffee.
If you are a coffee lover and have to skip it because of the problems caused by its acidic nature, just go through the following information, which will make you able to have an enjoyable coffee drinking experience again.
Is Coffee Acidity Harmful?
Firstly, not all the substances used in coffee are acidic. Moreover, the pH of coffee is not that low, which can be harmful to every coffee drinker. However, some people may have a weak stomach or gastric problems. They may face some difficulty because of the intake of coffee.
But that is not even a problem anymore too because there are now sundry ways that are proven to be helpful to make coffee alkaline or less acidic.
How to Reduce Acid in Coffee?
You will be glad to know that answer to this question won’t need much of your effort to understand or even to follow.
Buy Coffee Beans with Low Acids
Many people have become aware of the importance of maintaining health. That is why people also look for some substitutes of substances that are not damaging to their health. Such demands have made many companies to provide the coffee beans that are low on acids or any harmful substances.
Usual coffee drinkers may not be aware of this fact and end up buying the same harmful stuff. So, for the next time, remember that you should buy the healthier product available in the market.
You may also consider buying Arabica beans or kopi luwak as they are known for their quality and less acidic content. Kopi luwak is also known because of its some other benefits like having a lot of calcium and useful, healthy elements in it.
Take Into Account the Region of Your Coffee Beans
The place, altitude, and soil have significant participation in the nature of the coffee beans. The coffee grown at higher altitudes is usually considered to be more acidic than the ones grown at a lower altitude.
It requires absolutely no effort but can end up being of great help when it comes to buying the coffee with least acid content. Even if you do not find information about the origin of the beans from anywhere, do not hesitate to ask the person to sell them to you.
Coffee Acidity VS Your Brewing Style
Brewing and extracting coffee can tell a lot about its acidic or alkaline nature. Usually, the better you extract or brew, the less acidic or harmful the coffee is. Less extracted coffee often results in higher acid content in it.
You have to determine the way, timing, and the size of your coffee beans to brew it precisely according to what you need or desire. You may control the acidity of it by just brewing it accordingly.
Add Milk, Creme or Salt to Neutralize Acidity
There have been substances that are known to maintain the right pH of acid. It would be best if you will try adding some milk, creme, or even salt to your brew in case you need the least acidic contents in it.
Milk has always been for maintaining the pH and essential substances in the body. Adding it into the coffee would allow it to maintain the acidity of it, too, and make it healthier for everyone.
You may want to try adding salt into it. That can be a good way of balancing the health and the taste of the coffee. One can also add up some solid alkaline substances such as eggshells in their coffee to balance the acidity.
Having Gastric Problems? Hold on with Coffee Consumption
The ways discussed above decreasing the acidity in coffee are helpful for healthier people. It is because all of these ways can reduce the acidity but cannot finish it.
Thus, the people already going through stomach problems such as GERD or other gastric issues should not be looking at how to make low acid coffee.
Instead, they should rather work on avoiding its intake as much as they can. Or 2 or 3 cups in a day (with a lot of water intake) are more than enough in case they are highly addicted to the coffee and cannot skip it thoroughly.
Maintain Balance with Alkaline Intake
Acids are necessary to make the perfect coffee, so you cannot eradicate them. But, what you can do is to maintain balance. Because, finally, if the right amounts of acids are used, they may not be harmful in any way.
Acids can be balanced by using equal and appropriate amounts of alkaline substances. Maintaining the proper balance of both kinds of elements can result in a perfect coffee with no harmful or dangerous effects at all. That means, even if you are a patient of stomach disorders, you can enjoy coffee without any restrictions.
Is Caffeine the Culprit Here?
Have you ever given a thought to the real acidity causing content in the coffee? If we compare caffeinated coffee with decaf coffee, then you might be quite bemused by the fact that it is the caffeinated coffee that causes more acidity.
Caffeine present in the coffee causes your stomach to take part in more acidic reactions, which eventually results in more acid in the body. Such productions directly lead to problems such as heartburn, acidity in the stomach, or other digestive disorders.
So, if you want to get rid of the harmful effects of coffee but do not want to skip drinking it, then the best thing for you is to prefer drinking decaf coffee. Coffee without caffeine will still be a coffee but less harmful and with lesser acidic contents in it.
Benefits of Drinking Coffee
Coffee is not only about acids or other questionable substances. It does have its own benefits and amusements for the people who drink it. Drinking coffee is, without a doubt, a real refreshment for many people around.
Regular coffee consumers cannot even think about starting their day without a full round cup of it. But, before refreshment and enjoyment, the essential thing that one has to take care of is his health!
Final Thoughts on Acidity of Coffee
After taking into consideration all the various aspects of coffee, you now know the answer to the question whether coffee is acidic or alkaline. There should be little doubt in your mind on whether or not to consume coffee the same way or make any changes to your drinking habits.
If the pH of coffee is a disturbance to your body and makes you question its nature, then it would be best if you did not ignore it. Not considering such situations can cause continuous health problems or even other disorders.
That is why try following up on the ways to provide you with coffee that would be less harmful to your body and make you stay healthier.