Coffee - All Things Coffee

Rage Coffee and Borecha kombucha (strawberry version) have Panax Ginseng and Gingko Biloba have in them. Are they safe?

I am not making this post to scare anyone. I just want to inform everyone so that they can take appropriate action depending on their circumstances.

The two brands I will talk about are Rage Coffee and Borecha kombucha from Latambarcem Brewers.

Rage Coffee was launched in 2018 and it became popular during the Covid lockdowns. A famous Indian cricketer became its brand ambassador. Advertisements appealed to the Gen Z demographic with visuals of heavily tattooed women enjoying their cup of Rage Coffee. I started drinking it as well, and loved it. Some flavours let you enjoy the same premium experience you get in a coffee shop. Today, Rage Coffee is even sold in Indian defence canteens.

However, there are some serious problems. If you go to Rage Coffee's Amazon page, it shows you that it contains "natural plant-based vitamins" but doesn't include their names in the textual description. It is mentioned in an image but not in the description. So most of us would be too lazy to look it up.

Rage Coffee purposely uses vague language describing the ingredients as boosting vitality, endurance etc. The hidden meaning is that some of it causes enhanced male sxual performance and also increases sxual desire in women. It is the side effects of these adaptogens that should cause concern.

Panax Ginseng is one of the ingredients in Rage Coffee. It is also known as Korean Ginseng. It improves the symptoms of ED (erectile dysfunction/impotence) and also increases women's sexual desire. It helps in blood sugar regulation. But it also creates some other problems. Panax Ginseng is said to potentially cause birth defects in animals. It causes growth in midbrain and other parts of the brain of young rats. Pregnant women must not take it. This is according to WebMD (not an official medical website), PubMed NCBI (top medical research website) and MedLinePlus.gov (official US govt website). California law says all Panax ginseng supplements sold in the state must have this warning on its label. But why Indian authorities cannot do so?

Panax ginseng also increases the activity of the autoimmune system. Our immunity system protects our body from foreign organisms. But when the immune system is compromised and it begans attacking the normal cells of the body, it results in autoimmune disease. In patients with systemic lupus erythamatosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), multiple sclerosis (MS), this adaptogen (ginseng) must be avoided. it could interfere with the medicines given for these conditions and potentially create problems. Elderly people with bone or joint pains may be rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Some diabetic medications work by decreasing blood glucose levels. Since panax also does the same it can result in blood sugar levels becoming too low. Panax is similar to estrogen and should be avoided in people with uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, or breast cancer. There are a few cases in which boys who took ginseng developed gynaecomastia (male breast/moobs).

It creates sleep disturbance and agitation in schizophrenia patients. Panax also has drug interactions with antidepressant medicines, meaning it alters their biochemistry and affects your treatment.

Gingko Bioloba: It is produced from the leaves of the gingko tree. Its seeds are poisonous and should be avoided. According to Mayo Clinic, you should not take it if:

If you are epileptic or prone to seizures, avoid ginkgo. Large amounts of ginkgotoxin can cause seizures. Ginkgotoxin is found in ginkgo seeds and, to a lesser extent, ginkgo leaves.

If you are older, have a bleeding disorder or are pregnant, don't take ginkgo. The supplement might increase your risk of bleeding. If you're planning to have surgery, stop taking ginkgo two weeks beforehand.

Ginkgo might interfere with the management of diabetes. If you take ginkgo and have diabetes, closely monitor your blood sugar levels.

Some research has shown that rodents given ginkgo had an increased risk of developing liver and thyroid cancers.

Its drug interactions (one medicine interfering with the action of other medicines):

Interactions

Possible interactions include:

Alprazolam (Xanax). Taking ginkgo with this drug used to relieve symptoms of anxiety might reduce the drug's effectiveness.

Anticoagulants and anti-platelet drugs, herbs and supplements. These types of drugs, herbs and supplements reduce blood clotting. Taking ginkgo with them might increase your risk of bleeding.

Anticonvulsants and seizure threshold lowering drugs, herbs and supplements. Large amounts of ginkgotoxin can cause seizures. Ginkgotoxin is found in ginkgo seeds and, to a lesser extent, ginkgo leaves. It's possible that taking ginkgo could reduce the effectiveness of an anticonvulsant drug.

Antidepressants. Taking ginkgo with certain antidepressants, such as fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem) and imipramine (Tofranil), might decrease their effectiveness.

Certain statins. Taking ginkgo with simvastatin (Zocor) might reduce the drug's effects. Ginkgo also appears to reduce the effects of atorvastatin (Lipitor).

Diabetes drugs. Ginkgo might alter your response to these drugs.

Ibuprofen. It's possible that combining ginkgo with ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) might increase your risk of bleeding.

These two ingredients are found in Rage Coffee. However, it is also found in some flavours (strawberry) of Borecha from Latambarcem Breweries, a Goan company from a village of the same name. They invested 25 crores (250 million rupees) of their own money and only took loans later (source: QuickCompany.in and interviews). Last year they got funding from angel investors for expansion into the European market. They are already selling it in foreign countries. Their social media says they know sugar is bad and therefore their products have only 8 grams of sugar, compared to so much more in Coca Cola and other soft drinks. WHO says 24 grams of sugar is the daily limit.

I request these companies to either responsibly disclose the side effects of these ingredients or remove them from the products. Borecha is very delicious, and I think removal of Panax Ginseng and Gingko Biloba will make it safer while ensuring a safe experience for its consumers. Rage Coffee should also disclose it and explain why they haven't revealed it in the past 7 years.

US government website: https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/natural/1000.html

WebMed: https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1000/panax-ginseng

Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements-ginkgo/art-20362032

PubMed: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8020288/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18204104/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panax_ginseng

P.S. I was unable to post this to Reddit as they shadowbanned my VPN account. They didn't reinstate it after I appealed the ban. Lemmy.ml and Feddit.uk seem to be good websites (I am relatively new) so if this post gets shared online and goes viral, please check them out :)

A farm in East Ayrshire has launched the UK’s most expensive coffee to help fund a zero-waste dairy facility.

Mossgiel Farm announced the £272 flat white, which includes 34 shares in their business, will turn customers into investors in sustainable dairy farming.

The drink consists of espresso and steamed milk from Mossgiel Farm in Mauchline. It will be available at 13 Scottish cafes on November 23.

Mossgiel’s coffee is the most expensive in the UK, a title previously held by a flat white at Shot London in Mayfair, which cost £265 and was made with Japanese Typica beans.

It comes as part of Mossgiel Farm owner Bryce Cunningham’s drive to raise funds for a state-of-the-art, zero-waste dairy facility, which will give them the backing needed to “revolutionise” milk consumption.

I am in a high-end coffee shop in a tech-heavy area of San Francisco, staring suspiciously into a cup of espresso. This is no conventional coffee: it is made without using a single coffee bean.

It comes from Atomo, one of a band of alt-coffee start-ups hoping to revolutionise the world of brewed coffee.

“We take great offence when someone says that we're a coffee substitute,” says Andy Kleitsch, the chief executive of Seattle based start-up Atomo, from whose pure, beanless ground product my espresso has been made.

Traditional coffee substitutes have a reputation for not tasting much like coffee and are usually caffeine-free.

However, the newcomers intend to replicate one of the world’s most popular beverages from taste, to caffeine punch, to drinking experience – and the first of this nascent industry’s beanless concoctions have begun to appear.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/24844976

In the late 1600s, London coffeehouses were a preferred hangout for political men and writers.

“Unlike the tavern, the alehouse or the inn,” writes historian Brian Cowan, the coffeehouse “was a novel institution.” Although coffee-oriented gathering places had been common in the Arab world for hundreds of years, coffee was a new arrival to Britain in the 1600s. The first coffee-houses opened in the 1650s. By 1663, writes Matthew Green for The Telegraph, there were 82 coffeehouses in central London. Part of the reason, he writes, was their novelty. But with this rise came a backlash: In a hilarious pamphlet published in 1674, a group of women came out against the “newfangled, abominable, heathenish liquor called coffee.”

It’s difficult to tell if the writers of the The Women’s Petition Against Coffee were actually women, writes historian Steve Pincus, or if they were representing what women actually thought about coffeehouses. More likely, he writes, the satires were written in order to help make coffeehouses unpopular as they were perceived as sites of political unrest. (Charles II tried to ban the establishments in a year later.)

In the Women’s Petition, the supposed wives of coffee-drinkers bemoaned the fact that coffee-drinking was such an intellectual, effeminate pastime that it had rendered their husbands impotent and “as unfruitful as those deserts whence that unhappy berry is said to be brought.” (Coffee-growing lands are generally very rich and fertile.)

British shoppers may end up unknowingly buying products linked to the destruction of thousands of hectares of forests under post-Brexit environmental rules, i can reveal.

The UK Government is bringing in regulations it says will ensure supermarkets no longer stock products that have been produced on land linked to “illegal deforestation”.

But the measures, which have still not come into force more than two years after they were first announced, have been branded “weak” by conservation experts, with products including coffee, rubber and maize not included under the rules.

Goods linked to deforestation in countries where it is permitted will also be exempt.

An i analysis found that, even after the regulations take effect, British consumers will still be able to buy products responsible for the destruction of forests covering an area roughly 50 times the size of Hyde Park.

Daniela Montalto, Greenpeace UK senior forest campaigner, described the UK measures as “weak”, adding: “Despite grand promises of leadership, the UK government’s plans to end deforestation remain well behind the rest of Europe’s and will have virtually no impact on protecting forests.”

Last year the European Union passed its own regulations, which includes a ban on certain goods linked to any kind of deforestation, even if it is considered legal in the country of origin. Coffee and rubber – which is commonly used products including car tyres, shoes and refrigerators – are included in the EU rules.

...

According to data provided by Defra in collaboration by the University of York and others, UK consumers were responsible for the destruction of around 30,700 hectares of forest in 2021 – an area almost three times the size of Manchester.

i analysis found that the goods covered by the UK’s upcoming regulations are responsible for around 47 per cent of this deforestation. Timber is responsible for a further 29 per cent and is regulated under separate rules.

This means other goods which will not be covered by the measures, such as coffee, maize and rubber, are still responsible for almost a quarter of the UK’s deforestation footprint .

I've had a lot of people ask about the Hames Joffmann channel, it's disappearance/deletion. It is a very stupid situation, more info here:

Edit: looks like it's back

cross-posted from: https://lazysoci.al/post/12988150

Keurig, the company that got us all hooked on single-serve coffee systems and has helped us churn through billions of plastic throwaway K-cups, just reinvented its single-serve system in what may be the most sustainable way: K-Rounds.

K-Rounds are plastic and aluminum-free, highly-compressed coffee ground pods held together by an ultra-thin layer of plant-based material (alginate). As one Keurig exec described it, "It’s just coffee in those pods."

...

If successful, K-Rounds could have a measurable impact on the environment. According to one report, we create approximately half a billion metric tons of coffee capsule waste each year.

Drinking coffee can reduce heart palpitations, according to recent research. Three cups a day can lower potentially deadly heart palpitations by up to 13 per cent, reducing the risk of a heart attack or stroke say scientists.

A study of more than 340,000 people found both tea or coffee protect against common heart rhythm disturbances. Healthy antioxidants in caffeine are probably behind the phenomenon, said cardiologist Professor Peter Kistler.

It's commonly assumed coffee can cause the heart to beat faster - potentially causing illness. Lead author Professor Kistler, director of electrophysiology at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, said: "There is a public perception - often based on anecdotal experience - that caffeine is a common acute trigger for heart rhythm problems.

"Our extensive review of the medical literature suggests this is not the case."

His team showed caffeine protected against both atrial fibrillation (AF) and ventricular arrythmia (VA). The life-threatening conditions occur in each of the heart's two upper and lower chambers respectively.

Prof Kistler said caffeine blocks a molecule that fuels AF - the most common heart beat problem that can progress to heart failure. It affects about 1.4 million adults in the UK. It causes the heart to beat irregularly or very fast.

An artisan roastery based in the Finnish capital has introduced a coffee blend that has been developed by artificial intelligence in a trial in which it’s hoped that technology can ease the workload in a sector that traditionally prides itself on manual work.

It is only apt that the Helsinki-based Kaffa Roastery’s “AI-conic” blend was launched this week in Finland, a Nordic nation of 5.6 million that consumes the most coffee in the world at 12 kilograms per capita annually, according to the International Coffee Organization.

The blend — an AI-picked mixture with four types of beans dominated by Brazil’s velvety Fazenda Pinhal — is the end result of a joint project by Kaffa, Finland’s third-biggest coffee roastery, and local AI consultancy Elev.

“Leveraging models akin to ChatGPT and Copilot, the AI was tasked with crafting a blend that would ideally suit coffee enthusiasts’ tastes, pushing the boundaries of conventional flavor combinations,” Elev said.

...

Hampf acknowledged he was surprised that AI “somewhat weirdly” chose to make the blend out of four different type of coffee beans, rather than the usual two or three which allows distinction in taste between flavors from different origins.

After the first test roasting and blind testing, Kaffa’s coffee experts agreed, however, that the tech-assisted blend was perfect, and there was no need for human adjustments.

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