Ground vs Instant: Which Coffee Cup is HealthierThe morning of billions of people begins with coffee. But while some fill the coffee grinder with beans, others simply pour boiling water over a spoonful of powder from a jar. The question of which coffee is healthier arises almost with everyone who thinks about their health. Ground coffee, brewed in a Turkish pot or a coffee machine, seems more \"natural.\" Instant coffee — more \"chemical.\" But is everything so clear-cut? Let's figure out what lies behind the taste and aroma, and what actually enters our body along with the morning invigorating drink.Production Process: Where the Benefit is LostTo understand the difference, we need to look at the path of the coffee bean. Ground coffee is just roasted and ground beans. It retains all natural components: antioxidants, minerals, vegetable oils, fiber. Instant coffee is an extract that is first brewed, then dried. During the drying process (especially in spray drying), some valuable substances are destroyed. Volatile aromatic oils are lost, the content of some antioxidants decreases, the structure of proteins and carbohydrates changes. In the end, instant coffee is a product that has undergone thermal processing, and therefore its biochemistry is not the same as that of whole beans.But there is a nuance: in spray drying, high temperatures are used, which can destroy not only beneficial but also harmful components. In this sense, instant coffee is sometimes \"cleaner\" in terms of the content of some unwanted substances, such as cafestol and kahweol — compounds that increase the level of \"bad\" cholesterol. A paper filter in filtered ground coffee retains them, but in a Turkish pot or Aeropress they remain. Instant coffee contains almost none of them. This is an important nuance.Antioxidants: The Main Benefit of CoffeeCoffee is one of the richest sources of antioxidants in the modern human diet. It contains polyphenols, chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid. These substances p ... Read more