Thailand’s Office Workers Branded Coffee Drinking Culture Will Be A Boom To The Local Healthcare Segment
Source: Thailand Medical News May 27, 2019 5 years, 5 months, 3 weeks, 6 days, 4 hours, 16 minutes ago
Just take look at any Office Tower in Bangkok these days, and you will find either a Starbucks or some other knock off branded coffee outlets with a long queue of local office workers. Many of these office workers despite being on one of the lowest monthly salaries compared to any other well-developed cities around the world, can always be seen holding a cup of these coffee as a sort of status symbol.
Statistically most Thais choice of a beverage at these outlets are a sweetened coffee latte, either iced or hot. In second comes iced sweetened black coffee.
Despite the propaganda that was paid by numerous conglomerates stating that their “adjusted” studies commissioned out to certain so called credible research entities, showed that coffee is good for certain diseases, the real truth is that unless you are consuming freshly brewed black coffee that does not contain dairy or any sweeteners, then Yes, there are certain polyphenols present in the coffee that are beneficial for certain health conditions. However roasted and brewed black coffee contains other chemicals that are toxic and also carcinogenic, cancelling off the benefits of the polyphenols present. However, many non-credible medical news sites still carry articles online extolling the benefits of coffee. (some are also paid content , sponsored by some of these food conglomerates themselves)
One of the toxic compound present in coffee due to the roasting process is
acrylamide, a known carcinogenic compound that has the potential to trigger pancreatic cancer, breast cancer and also colon cancer.
But what is more worrying, according to new emerging research being done in both US and also Sweden, are the compounds called
AGEs or
Advanced Glycation End-products. These are chemicals formed when proteins or lipids become glycated as result of exposure to sugars.
These AGEs are basically the culprits in a variety of neurodegenerative diseases such as Dementia and Alzheimer. Besides that, they contribute to the development of Diabetes, Atherosclerosis , Chronic Kidney Disease and even various Cancers. They also cause the faster aging of cells and the human body.
Glycation is of two types,
Exogenous (AGEs formed outside the body) and
Endogenous (occurring in the body ).
Besides the AGEs present in black coffee and even more in coffee latte (the frothing process of milk also generates AGEs besides other products that can be harmful to the human body.), new studies indicate that Sweetened Coffee Lattes are a perfect ingredient for endogenous production of AGEs in the human body.A daily cup is enough to contribute to a variety of diseases in 5 to 8 years down the road for a consumer.
A Californian Court in 2018 has already ruled that all coffee outlets and coffee products are to carry health warnings. The ruling is still being challenged by the food conglomerates and final verdicts are expected in 2020.
The ruling came despite the disgraceful act i
n 2016 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer ,the can
cer agency of the World Health Organization , removing coffee off its “possible carcinogen” list due to intense lobbying of food conglomerates.
These studies on AGEs and coffee are still ongoing and the official results are expected to be released for publication in July 2019. But from what is indicated, we now understand why many private hospitals in Thailand usually have a branded Coffee Outlet in their hospitals. It’s an insurance for their future business!
