Green Coffee Bean Extract Overview

Just as black tea is made by processing green tea leaves from their original state, ordinary coffee is made by roasting green coffee beans. This processing alters the chemical makeup of the plant product. In an analogy to the medicinal study of green tea , an extract made from green coffee beans is undergoing increasing investigation as a possible health-promoting supplement.

Like green tea, green coffee bean extracts (GCBE) contains strong antioxidants in the polyphenol family. Polyphenols protect body issues against damage caused by free oxygen radicals, and are found in many foods like tomatoes, apples, chocolate, coffee and tea.

Chlorogenic Acid

The primary polyphenol antioxidants in green coffee bean extract are in a family known as chlorogenic acids (CGA). Meaningful, if still preliminary, evidence hints that CGA may help reduce blood pressure. Other proposed uses of GCBE are based primarily on its caffeine content, as well as observational studies of ordinary coffee consumption and the possible health benefits of antioxidants in general.

In the large human trial of GCBE for hypertension noted above, the extract was most effective when taken at a dose of 185 mg daily.

Since green coffee bean extract typically contains about 30% chlorogenic acids, this works out to a dose of about 60 mg of chlorogenic acids daily. Another study used 140 mg of purified chlorogenic acids daily.