Why strong coffee could be healthier

Stronger, darker roasted coffee such as espressos could be healthier than mild ones, a new study finds...

Your morning espresso might give you the jitters - but new research shows rich and dark-roasted coffees could be kinder on the stomach than milder ones.

A new study suggests dark-roasted coffee might produce less acid in the stomach than other forms. One in five people are thought to suffer stomach problems from drinking coffee - often forcing them to abstain from a daily brew.

The report to the American Chemical Society by Austrian scientists identified three compounds that give coffee drinkers acid stomachs: caffeine, catechols and N-alkanoly-5-hydroxytryptamides.

But they unexpectedly found that one coffee component, N-methylpyridium (NMP), seems to stop stomach cells producing hydrochloric acid. And NMP can be up to twice as concentrated in darker-roasted blends.

NMP is not found in raw coffee beans and is only generated in the roasting process. Research scientists are planning to test different types of raw coffee beans, and roasting methods, to produce a new brew later this year.

Dr Veronika Somoza, from the University of Vienna, said: ‘This discovery is going to help a lot of people who suffer from coffee sensitivity. As coffee lovers, we're very excited about this.'

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