A recent experiment conducted in Costa Rica, has tested whether coffee pulp, a leftover of the coffee growing process, could help bring  rainforests back to life.

Researchers covered one parcel of grass with about 20 inches of coffee pulp and left the other untouched. After two years, the plot of land given a boost from coffee showed a dramatic improvement. Eighty percent of the plot was covered by young tree canopy, some trees already 15 feet versus just 20 percent in the untreated plot. In the coffee-fueled plot, trees were also four times taller on average, soil samples were more nutrient-rich, and invasive grasses had been eliminated.

“This really was like a forest on caffeine. I think it’s really promising.” Said the study author, Rebecca Cole.

Read the full coverage by The Telegraph and National Geographic following the links below

A recent study by the British Medical Journal has found that advanced prostate cancer sufferers are 16% less likely to die if they are heavy coffee drinkers. Every cup of coffee could reduce prostate cancer risk by as much as 1%.  

Researchers considered data from 16 relevant studies published up until September 2020. 

They linked the anti-inflammatory properties of coffee to the improved prognosis of patients and by this metric, it could also reduce the chance of getting the terrible disease altogether. 

Find out more about Coffee and Prostate Cancer on the Telegraphs website linked below. 

Coffee fans can have up to 25 cups a day without worrying about their heart a study suggests.

If you're accustomed to drinking coffee on a regular basis then this latest study published by Queen Mary University of London suggests that you could have up to 25 cups of coffee a day without any negative effects to your arteries.The study started off by dividing 8,412 people into three groups - those who seldom drank coffee, those who drank between one and three cups a day and the third group who would regularly drink more than three. 

The third group consumed coffee at an average of 5 a day though some of them would put away 24 cups! The research found that you were no more likely to have artery trouble drinking 25 cups a day than you would drinking only one.

"Despite the huge popularity of coffee worldwide, different reports could put people off from enjoying it," said Dr Kenneth Fung.
"Whilst we can't prove a causal link in this study, our research indicates coffee isn't as bad for the arteries as previous studies would suggest. Although our study included individuals who drink up to 25 cups a day, the average intake amongst the highest coffee consumption group was five"

Dr Kenneth Fung said he's also likely to study this group again in future work so we can help advise on safer limits. 

Previous studies on the effects of coffee on arteries have suggested that the extra strain caused by the caffeine in the coffee would put pressure on the heart and increase the chances of a heart attack or stroke. Professor Metin Avkiran associate medical director at the British heart foundation, stated that the study "rules out one of the potential detrimental effects of coffee on our arteries".

All participants that had taken part in this study underwent MRI Heart scans and infrared pulse wave tests, factors such as age, weight and lifestyle (smoking etc) were also taken into consideration. 

The health benefits and risks of coffee has varied over time, though no evidence has been found to show coffee as being harmful our best advice at Masteroast is to enjoy coffee to a level that you are comfortable with as part of a balanced diet. 

Two Scottish entrepreneurs have big ideas on replacing palm oil in the home. Starting local with the goal of making it global.
Scott Kennedy and Fergus Moore have came up with a unique way to extract oil from used coffee grounds which has a huge range of potential uses.

Palm oil, the current go to oil for many of our house hold products has proven to be very unpopular and rightly so, this is more due to the rather destructive way in which production of the oil has been scaled up in recent years with large amounts of ancient rainforest being cut down in the pursuit of this useful oil. It's always interesting to see other alternatives creeping in, even more so if they are  considered a by-product of another process.

Mr Kennedy and Mr Moore came up with their coffee grounds idea while working in coffee shops during their university years studying business in Glasgow's Strathclyde University. Working in a coffee shop is where they saw first-hand the amount of food waste produced by the hospitality sector, 60% of all cafe's waste is coffee grounds alone according to Mr Moore:

Further explaining the potential uses of this oil he explained that the oil uses extend to the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, food & drink and house hold product markets, "you name it there's probably a use for it".

Their company Revive Eco are working on a process to extract and purify these oils. Mr Moore continues "The most exciting part for us is that they have all the same components as palm." They are both excited that they could potentially have a solution or a partial solution for the palm oil which has in recent months received some negative press.

They aim to have the process up and running by summer 2020. They are also representing Scotland and Northern Island in the Chivas Venture competition. The winners will be announced in Amsterdam in May, a share of a funding pot of £776.000 is available. The core of their business model will be to have the process running in and around major coffee drinking cites producing high quality oil in a local and sustainable way, they aim longer term to have this working in Rome, Paris & Berlin and any other heavy coffee drinking city's around the world.