Brain Buzz: the benefits of coffee for brain health
Ka’u Valley Coffee Farms, Pahala Hawaii (photos by author)
After a week of immersion into the Ka’u Coffee Festival, I am officially a coffee snob. The best news in my world is that coffee is considered an elixir for brain health, longevity and disease prevention. New research suggests that drinking two to three cups of coffee has numerous benefits.
Coffee fosters our detox organs and circulatory system and lowers inflammation. Essentially it reduces the risk of death from any cause according to epidemiologist and study leader, Marc Gunter, who heads the nutrition and metabolism section of the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France. His study followed more than 500,000 people in 10 European countries over the course of 16 years.
The next step according to Gunter is to analyze coffee’s chemical composition in hopes of understanding what makes the beverage so beneficial. Gunter is not the only one taking the science of coffee seriously. I had the pleasure of meeting the founders of Silicon Valley Coffee at the festival. Besides being absolutely delightful human beings, they have taken coffee tasting to an entirely new level. They have created a lab that has an “e-nose” that analyzes coffee aromas. They host experiences for tech companies similar to wine tasting as a team building exercise. Flights of specialty coffees are paired with a detailed sommelier-like education you would experience in the best vineyards.
The unique quality of the coffee in Ka’u Valley has taken the global coffee world by storm. The region was left reeling in 1996 when the local sugar companies left abruptly. The primary employer of the Big Island simply vanished within days. The people left behind had to start over. Coffee crops began to replace sugar fields, but the farmers had trouble selling it. Chris Manfredi, a local coffee farm founder and an advocate for these farmers took it to the 2007 International Coffee Competition and suddenly Ka’u Coffee became the “Cinderella of Hawaii Coffee” by winning 6th and 9th place internationally. It quickly joined the elite specialty coffees of the world and has been a sought-after delight since. They continued participating in global competitions and won “Coffee of the Year” for five years. Starbucks was intrigued and featured Ka’u as a premier specialty coffee at one point. Ka’u coffee has officially challenged the status of the revered Kona coffee, which once held court in the islands. As a developing coffee connoisseur I can assure you that Ka-u coffee is indeed a brain boosting delicacy to be sought out. As a brain health nerd, I fully encourage coffee for its benefits, making sure the timing does not interfere with sleep, however.
Seeing the back-breaking labor of these small farmers and the challenges they face from the coffee borer beetle, leaf rust, and other blights is inspiring. Some have been coffee farmers and ranchers for generations. Some are immigrants from El Salvadore, Ukraine, Russia, and India. Several are born and bred in Ka’u, like Delvin Navarro of Monarch Coffee, who are building their new business in the wake of the sugar industry loss. To really get the best quality yield requires “malama aina” (care of the land), dedication, and passion for coffee craft.
So while they labor each day in the fields, hand-picking the best and reddest cherry for my benefit, I am infinitely grateful to the coffee crop that boosts my brain. Whether you are a connoisseur or just in need of a pick-me-up, going back for refills before 3 PM is a smart move.