If you know me well, you’ll know I’m running some  daily tests on my cholesterol status ( results due at the end of the year).

Here was a surprise correlation that I thought I should highlight now.

So cholesterol is all about saturated fat! Right? So if you woke up and only had 3-4 cups of coffee  ( with 1 sugar and skimmed milk) over 5 hours,  missed breakfast and lunch, you’d expect your cholesterol to be low or high?

Enter Cafestol.

Check out Coffee Raises Cholesterol .

Cafestol, a compound found in coffee, elevates cholesterol by hijacking a receptor in an intestinal pathway critical to its regulation, according to a recent article. Allegedly the effect is negated if you pass the coffee through an old fashioned paper filter, but still, who knew!!

“In fact, cafestol is the most potent dietary cholesterol-elevating agent known, said Dr. David Moore, professor of molecular and cellular biology at BCM, and Dr. Marie-Louise Ricketts, a postdoctoral student and first author of the report. Cafetiere, or French press coffee, boiled Scandinavian brew and espresso contain the highest levels of the compound, which is removed by paper filters used in most other brewing processes. Removing caffeine does not remove cafestol.” 

Wikipedia overview here

Check out Harvard here