Green is the new black: What is green coffee?

MANILA, Philippines — There was a time when everyone was talking about green tea versus black tea or how much better green tea was for one’s health. Now, people are talking about green coffee with equal fervor, if not with even more intensity.

Green is the new black coffee — and it may be even healthier for you. Green coffee boasts an abundant supply of chlorogenic acids, which may help reduce one’s risk for chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease.

According to the medical website healthline.com, which features content reviewed and vetted by doctors, chlorogenic acids are compounds with potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects that may provide the body with many health benefits.

It is simply raw, unroasted coffee beans, which are colored green; thus the name green coffee. While roasted coffee products contain small amounts of chlorogenic acid, most of it is lost during the roasting process.

In the Philippines, one of the pioneers of the green coffee revolution is Duncan Yu, who says he simply “stumbled upon” green coffee when he read about it in the contents of a milk tea brand. From there, he did some research and, in 2016, launched Ultra Green Coffee (UGC).

“It’s an alternative for people who love to drink coffee but who suffer from an acidic stomach. As for its health benefits, the feedback I got from those who have tried my green coffee products are, in the case of women, reduced symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome (in which the ovaries produce an abnormal number of androgens, male sex hormones that are usually present in women in small amounts) and regular menstrual cycle; and, for both men and women, lowered blood sugar and cholesterol levels, and better control of their appetite,” Yu said.

“In an eight-week study, 50 people with metabolic syndrome — a cluster of risk factors, including high blood pressure and blood sugar, that increase your risk for diabetes and heart disease — took 400 mg of decaffeinated green coffee bean extract twice daily.

“Those who took the extract experienced significant improvements in fasting blood sugar, blood pressure, and waist circumference, compared with a control group,” read an article on Healthline. 

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