Unless you are a heartburn sufferer, you probably have no idea about the pain and discomfort that can be caused by coffee. Coffee lovers who experience this problem can face a real dilemma, do they enjoy the odd cup a risk hours of agony, or give it up altogether.
In world where coffee has become part of our culture, and everybody seems to be constantly drinking the brew, it can be hard to remove it completely from your diet. The tempting aroma from the office coffee machine can be enough to convince us that one cup wont do any harm.
Heartburn itself is caused largely by stomach acid finding its way back up into the esophagus. This causes irritation of the esophagus lining causing the well known burning sensation, often accompanied by an acidic taste in the mouth.
Caffeine is a major cause of heartburn because it causes the stomach to produce large amounts of stomach acid, much more than the body requires to aid digestion. This excess acid leaks into the lower esophageal sphincter causing that irritation and burning sensation.
So do you need to switch to inferior tasting decaf to avoid that painful heartburn? Well there is a new technique to remove the caffeine from regular coffee without losing the flavor. This is called the Hevla technique and can make coffee drinking much more pleasant for those that need to reduce their caffeine intake.
During the Helva process, beans are steamed under exceptionally strong pressure. Molecules in the steam bond with the caffeine to remove it from the coffee bean without affecting the taste of the coffee that can be brewed from it. Without caffeine, the coffee will not provoke production of excess stomach acid and will not cause heartburn, but will retain its delicious taste and aroma.
The Helva process is not yet widely used, but it presents a great commercial benefit for coffee suppliers who will be able to regain some of those customers that gave up regular coffee for health reasons, but who could not stand the chemical taste of traditional decaf.
When it is widely available in supermarkets, Helva coffee will be obtainable in all the various forms you can now buy coffee. In whole beans, ready ground roasts, instant granules and coffee pods for your one cup coffee makers, so heartburn sufferers never need to miss out on a great cup of coffee again.
