Coffee and stomach trouble.

by Elaine
(California)

Does drinking coffee make your stomach hurt?

QUESTION:

Sometimes when I drink coffee I make at home my stomach hurts an hour or so later. Why is that? Is the caffeine causing the trouble?

ANSWER:

It is likely that you have a sensitivity to the acid in the coffee.

There are a couple of ways you really can reduce the acidity of your coffee.

Option one involves adding crushed egg shells to the coffee grinds before you brew.

When researching this a couple of years ago I learned that people have been adding egg shells to coffee grinds for a long time now, including in the movie "The Big Store", in which Harpo adds eggshells to the coffee maker's basket when he's making Groucho's breakfast.

It seems that the calcium compounds in the eggs shells help neutralize the acidity in the coffee, resulting in a milder and less acidic brew.

This is probably a great tip for people with sensitive stomachs.

Option two is to use a cold-brew process. The cold-brewing method reduces the amount of acid in any coffee by a huge amount.

This means you can use any coffee beans and still get a low-acid brew.

The brewer you need to use is called the Toddy Cold Brew System. There is no hot water or "brewing" involved. All you use is cold water and ground coffee.

The low-acid coffee it produces is actually a concentrate. You keep this in the fridge, for up to three weeks, and then add some concentrate to a mug and then top it up with water when you're ready for a cup of coffee.

As far as I know, this is the best solution for low-acid coffee. Toddy claims that their method reduces acid in coffee by 67%.

You can learn more and buy your Toddy Cold Brew System from Amazon.

Comments for Coffee and stomach trouble.

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It’s not the acid
by: Anonymous

My whole family gets ibs when we drink keurigs or ground coffee we have purchased. Have tested this out many times. Stomach hurting and having to go to bathroom after any food or drink consumption all day. They say who knows what kind of kind of crap is in ground coffee besides coffee. If we buy beans and grind then the problem is gone. Try it! We quit our keurig and bought an old fashioned coffee pot. After awhile we were too busy so started buying ground coffee. We are gluten-free and really felt like we were getting glutened. Finally thought what if its the coffee. The next day ground our own beans again and all felt fine.

another solution
by: nrgins

Another solution for people (such as myself) with stomachs sensitive to coffee acid is to drink espresso. I find that espresso is far gentler on my stomach, perhaps because of the smaller amount used, or perhaps because of the way it's brewed. I just drink espresso with half and half, either hot or over ice, instead of drip coffee. I love it. (I use French Roast instead of Espresso Roast in the machine.)

Most people don't make espresso at home because they think they have to spend a lot of money to get a decent drink. I bought a DeLonghi pump-pressure espresso machine for about $100, and it's served me well. One of the best investments I've ever made!

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