There was a time when you would have been practically laughed out of town for uttering such a ridiculous question. Nowadays though, there are lots of retailers and shops that sell edible coffee beans, with chocolate-covered coffee beans being particular popular.
You may wonder, if you are always a little cynical first, before following the crowd, if it is actually safe to eat coffee beans or not.
To help you have a more comprehensive and thorough answer to your question than a simple ‘yes, you can eat coffee beans’ we are going to break down the subject further.
As we have established they are safe to eat, we will discuss how many is safe to eat in one sitting, how many coffee beans you would need to eat to consume the same amount of coffee and caffeine found in a cup of coffee and whether it is wise to eat coffee beans with the sole purpose of losing weight.
First things first
How Many Coffee Beans is it Safe to Eat?
Like so many other things, it is safe to eat coffee beans, in moderation. The antioxidant and easily absorbed caffeine, offer you plenty of benefits. However, you will only experience the benefits without any of the negative effects, if you carefully monitor how many you eat.
The amount of coffee beans that is considered safe comes down to what is considered a safe level of caffeine. While everyone has a different tolerance to caffeine, single doses of anything from 200mg up to 400mg are considered to be safe for all adults.
You also need to take into consideration that the amount of caffeine found in coffee beans tends to vary widely based on a number of different factors such as how long they were roasted for, the particular coffee bean strain they are and how big or small they are.
For instance, Robusta coffee beans are thought to approximately twice the amount of caffeine as Arabica coffee beans.
You will find that on average, chocolate-coated coffee beans contain roughly 12mg of caffeine, that includes the caffeine present in the chocolate itself.
What does this mean? Adults are able to eat approximately 33 coloured-coated coffee beans and still stay within the safe RDA of caffeine consumption. As these tasty and addictive treats may contain high levels of added sugar, fat and calories, it may be a good idea to limit the amount you eat.
You also need to factor in your consumption of coffee and any caffeine your body gets from other food and drink sources. To avoid pushing your daily intake over the limit, it may be worth reducing the other caffeinated things you consume.
How Many Coffee Beans Do You Have to Eat to Equal a Cup of Coffee?
Following nicely from the above, you may be trying to figure out how many coffee beans you would need to eat to equal a cup of coffee. Whether this is just out of idle curiosity or you are trying to figure out how many cups of coffee you may have to stop drinking if you want to continue enjoying coffee beans as a tasty, edible snack, we hope we can help you out.
Generally speaking, and it obviously depends on the size, strain and lots of other things related to the beans, it is thought that about eight coffee beans will provide you with the same level of caffeine that a full cup of coffee would.
Can You Eat Coffee Beans for Weight Loss?
There are a lot of reports you will find online that support the fact that eating coffee beans can provide you with some great health benefits. Most of this is true, to an extent. After all, coffee beans are high in antioxidants, and contain chlorogenic acids and fibre.
These are components that can help you to both lose and manage weight effectively. There are have been some studies, in fact, that show chlorogenic acid can slow down and limit the body’s intake of carbohydrates.
Does that mean we are suggesting you should switch to eating a lot of coffee beans as a pathway to losing weight? Not at all, as the fact is that most coffee beans lose any chlorogenic acids they had during the roasting period. Therefore, if you are going to eat any coffee beans, it is best to opt for green/raw beans rather than those that have been roasted.
Summary
Are you feel the same as us? Do you want to rush out and buy some edible coffee beans, whether it’s so chocolate-covered versions or other varieties? We can’t wait until we have the next opportunity to invest in some.
When you do and when we do, we now know to only eat them in moderation, while paying close attention to whether or not we have had our RDA of caffeine in that day. We have also discussed the possibilities of using coffee beans as part of our weight loss strategy.
Although it may be a good idea on paper, we still remain unconvinced whether you will actually lose a significant amount of weight from eating coffee beans that you make it a better option than any of the alternatives.
We hope the above post has been of some help to you. For more information about coffee beans, roasting them, brewing them and reviews of various important equipment such as grinders, check out some of our other great posts here at Best Coffee Beans.