After recently moving to Lihue from Oahu with her husband to start a business, Michelle Dixon was on her way to work, when she stopped for her second cup of coffee that day.
“When I’m at home, I’ll have a cup of coffee just to kind of wake me up and I guess on my way to work, I’ll have one here, to make me feel a little more energized, but more soothing,” Dixon said.
In addition to giving her energy, coffee also helps her to relax before the rush of work, she said.
As for the health risks, she says she tries not to think about it.
“I like to support the community and I really haven’t heard that much and read about it, so I’m not sure,” Dixon said.
She doesn’t plan on quitting coffee anytime soon.
“I think the main thing is you exercise and eat healthy too,” she said.
Late last month, a California judge ruled that under state law, coffee companies must carry a cancer-warning label on their products, due to the chemical acrylamide, which has been linked to cancer, being present in the bean roasting process.
According to a Centers for Disease Control fact sheet about the chemical, most people are exposed to acrylamide by eating foods such as French fries and potato chips, drinking coffee and inhaling tobacco smoke.
“Human health effects from environmental exposure to low levels of acrylamide are unknown,” the CDC says.
At a local coffee shop, reaction to the news was mixed.
Chris Jacobson, who lives in Anahola, said his favorite drink mixes a cold brew with coconut milk.
“It’s pretty good. I like the cold brew aspect with the coconut milk,” he said.
A clinical business analyst at Wilcox Hospital, Jacobson said he drinks one or two cups of coffee per day. He likes the ritual of getting up in the morning and grabbing a cup of coffee either at home or on his way to work.
“It’s just kind of like a feel good, comfy feeling you get from having it,” he said.
As someone who has thrived on a plant-based, mostly organic diet for nearly a decade, Jacobson said news of the possible health risks from coffee have driven him to consider more organic options, more often and will be certain to buy organic beans for his home brew from now on.
“I’ll probably just look at more organic coffee more often now that I’m hearing more and more about the chemicals that may be coming out of coffee that’s grown more conventionally,” he said.
As a first-year college student working and supporting herself, Jessie Hathaway of Lihue said she’d already been trying to cut back on her daily coffee consumption.
As a barista, Hathaway said she would often drink three cups of coffee per day and is working on getting that down to one cup per day, but it’s not always easy.
“I’m kind of tired all the time, but it’s fine. I’m trying to drink more water instead to see if it helps,” she said.
Coffee, she said, helps her to feel more motivated in the morning, especially after nights where she doesn’t get a lot of sleep.
“Its just like some fake energy to get me through what I need to do and when I’m working, a lot of times I’m working at 5:30 in the morning. So I just have to like kickstart myself somehow, because like breakfast doesn’t always do it for me,” Hathaway said.
Though she has heard of some health benefits of drinking coffee, Hathaway said she is concerned about the ill effects too much coffee can have.
“I’ve heard that it’s like not good for your digestive system really and it’s very dehydrating. It’s not good for your teeth, so I just try to not think about that when I’m drinking coffee,” she said.
One thing Hathaway said she’s noticed is that kids are starting to drink coffee at a younger age, and she’s concerned they might not have a full understanding of the health risks associated with the drink.
“If they’re going to start drinking coffee, they should know what it does, because I know what caffeine does in your brain, to like make you feel energized. I feel like a lot of kids should know about that, even though it’s not like the worst,” she said.
Owner of Le Petite Café in Princeville, Shea Tafoya of Kapahi, said she drinks two cups of coffee per day because she loves how it tastes and makes her feel good.
Tafoya said doesn’t agree with the studies about acrylamide.
“I’ve been fine,” she said. “I guess it depends on how you use it. You can abuse anything.”
Downing five cups of coffee per day, which is less than he used to drink, Westside resident Rhan Hongo said the beans give him a nice kick.
“A pickup in the morning, in the afternoon and late at night,” he said.
He likes coffee because you can make it into anything you want.
“In the morning, my first cup is normally kind of sugary, so it takes the edge off the night and the rest of the day it’s stark black,” Hongo said.
At the coffee shop he visits once a day, Hongo said he always lets the baristas decide what drink to serve him and it’s always good. Despite the new information about health risks associated with coffee, Hongo says he won’t stop drinking the brew.
“Everything you do or eat nowadays there’s a concern, so let’s all live on the edge, you know? Have some good times. Eat drink whatever you want, because the day will come when you won’t have any,” he said.
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Bethany Freudenthal, Courts, Crime and County reporter, 652-7891 or bfreudenthal@thegardenisland.com
