Drs Eric Gordon and Nafysa Parpia are joined by Andrew Salisbury, founder of Purity Coffee, to talk about how cultivation and processing methods can cause toxins in most coffees.
Pre-tox (not detox) is the first step to health
Our patients who pre-tox see the best results, hands down.
Pre-tox is the first step to health and is often overlooked. It’s an essential component to healing chronic illness, disease prevention, and thriving health.
One of the best ways for us to pre-tox is to avoid the toxins in many of the foods we consume daily that can lead to disease and metabolic imbalance.
Coffee is FULL of toxins
Many people drink coffee on a daily basis, unaware of the pervasive and dangerous toxins that numerous coffee brands contain – mycotoxins, pesticides and other toxic chemicals
Coffee is grown in warm, moist climates. This makes it an ideal place for mold to thrive.
While the safe levels of mycotoxins in coffee remain a point of debate for many of our chronically ill patients the goal is always to remove as many toxicants as possible.
We began a search for a cleaner alternative for our patients and found that in Purity Coffee. We enjoy drinking it ourselves and suggest it to our patients.
The ideal environment for producing mycotoxins
Molds and mycotoxins are not the same thing. Rather, mycotoxins can be produced by certain molds. In other words, these fungi will not produce mycotoxins unless the environment is right: the variety of mold, high levels of moisture, and conditions in roastery warehouses are ideal.
Mycotoxins can develop during improper storage
One of the realities of the coffee trade is that there is usually some amount of mold spores on green coffee before it is roasted. Of course, roasting easily kills mold and its spores, but ridding the coffee beans of mycotoxins which have developed during improper storage of the beans is not easy.
When you think of “mycotoxins,” we suggest you focus on avoiding the one that poses the greatest risk when it comes to coffee – Ochratoxin A
Ochratoxin A (also known as OTA) has been tied to a number of serious health risks. The U.S. government considers the compound to be a possible carcinogen. It’s also an immunosuppressant. Finally, it’s also connected to nephrotoxicity, meaning it’s particularly dangerous to the kidneys. Specifically, a study of Balkan Endemic Nephropathy found that consuming OTA was correlated with the disease, which was associated with severe kidney damage and difficulty with urination. (1)
Few people know that this dangerous toxin even exists, much less that it’s a risk to their health. While many fungi create an odd smell or taste, the fungi that produces OTA provides no such warning. There are multiple stages at which it can taint coffee beans, and once it’s taken hold it is very difficult to eliminate. Even trying to get rid of it can lead to further problems.
In 2003 a study of Brazilian coffee found 91.7% were contaminated with mold
A 2009 study from Batista et al. found that 56% of 128 different coffee samples contained OTA. This particular study found that cross-contamination of OTA was common in processing centers that did not safeguard against these particles. That means that even beans that were not infected before they reached a processing plant could be contaminated due to the facility’s condition. Extreme care and extensive testing must be taken to avoid OTA lingering in a processing plant and infecting other coffee beans.)
The only way to avoid drinking OTA is to choose coffee that was never contaminated in the first place.
Purity Coffee does not, and will not, purchase any green coffee unless it tests free of Ochratoxin and Aflatoxin. That means only choosing coffee that is laboratory tested for OTA.
When the coffee leaves its country of origin, it arrives at the roastery where conditions in the warehouse are controlled to prevent OTA from developing. This is why there will never be OTA in your Purity Coffee*.
And just to be absolutely sure, they spot-check their finished products in independent labs.
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