Why Hot Coffee Might Be Healthier Than Cold Brew

For coffee fans, a change of seasons mostly also brings a change in morning java habits. The days get shorter and a cups of coffee go from iced or cold brewed to bubbling hot, and (just acknowledge it) even pumpkin flavored. Both broach your much-needed caffeine, of course, though a new investigate suggests that prohibited coffee competence corner out a cold brewed accumulation in a health department.

In a new study, published in a biography Scientific Reports, researchers from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia compared a astringency and antioxidant activity of prohibited and cold decoction coffee. The good news for prohibited coffee? It showed aloft levels of antioxidant activity. As a reminder, antioxidants are suspicion to be involved in some of the famed health advantages of celebration coffee, including a reduce risk of heart disease, diabetes, and early death.

RELATED: Is Coffee Actually Good for You?

“In moderation, investigate shows [coffee] can be flattering good for you,” study co-author Megan Fuller, PhD, partner highbrow of chemistry during Jefferson, pronounced in a statement. “We found a prohibited decoction has some-more antioxidant capacity.”

Still, Fuller and co-author Niny Rao, PhD, associate highbrow of chemistry, wrote in their paper: “Additional investigate is indispensable to entirely know any probable differences in a health effects of coffee as a duty of brewing heat and time.”

RELATED: Here’s What Happened When a Coffee Addict Gave It Up for a Week

Fuller and Rao also found that a astringency of prohibited and cold decoction coffee were flattering similar. Historically, cold decoction has mostly been deliberate reduction acidic than prohibited decoction coffee, and therefore gentler on a stomach. But in a new study, a pH levels of a prohibited and cold decoction coffee samples all fell in a operation from 4.85 to 5.13. Given those numbers, Rao pronounced in a matter that cold decoction cups of Joe shouldn’t be deliberate a “silver bullet” to caffeinating without GI distress.

But don’t worry, cold decoction diehards. Your elite splash still has antioxidants—as good as other health-promoting polyphenols and minerals found in a prohibited stuff, too. And cold decoction even has some of a possess perks: Many people find cold decoction coffee tastier, that means you’ll be reduction tempted to bucket it adult with fat or calories in a form of cream, milk, or sugar, Frank Hu, MD, PhD, highbrow of epidemiology and nourishment chair during a Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told Health in a before interview.

To get the tip stories delivered to your inbox, pointer adult for the Healthy Living newsletter