If you are like many of us, you enjoy a cup of coffee (or two) to get your day doing. Ground coffee may seem like a completely different kettle of fish when it comes to taste compared to instant coffee but is it nutritionally better to just drink ground?
The simple answer is both types of coffee are almost identical (good news if you want to save a few dollars as well as benefit from the health properties of coffee). There are a few differences though which may influence your choice which are:
Ground Coffee:
- Contains almost double the amount of potassium than instant. Instant coffee is not a second best player in the game of coffee though with one study suggesting instant coffee may have more antioxidants!
Instant Coffee:
- Contains less caffeine. Instant coffee has around 60-80mg per cup compared to 60-120mg of caffeine in a cup of ground coffee.
So which should you choose?
- Taste: Instant can be cheaper but the taste can differ a lot from ground coffee. The amount of caffeine you can tolerate can differ to the person next to you due to genetics, medications, body size and how often you drink coffee.
- How much do you drink? If you want to be able to drink more coffee choosing instant over ground can be a good choice, especially if you want to get sleep at night. Half of the caffeine has left your body after around 4-6 hours so having your last cup early afternoon can be a smart move.
- Mind your limit: Drinking up to 400mg of caffeine a day seem to be within a safe level for most adults. Remember green, black and white teas all have about half the amount of caffeine than a cup of coffee and this counts to your total amount in a day.
Take home message:
Coffee in moderation can have health benefits and support a healthy lifestyle but remember everyone is different and knowing how much is your limit is important to prevent stepping over line into poorer health outcomes from too much coffee!
