Coffee the power food? Did you know that a cup of espresso coffee has 23 times the potassium of a banana? But NO SUGAR, how cool is that!

TOTALLY weird as this sounds, I nearly died from lack of coffee in December 1999.

In 1999 I was suffering with a gastric infection and barely digesting anything for 2 weeks, certainly not getting my morning takeaway on the way to the office or using the local cafes as meeting venues (what a great business innovation this has been!!!). I ran out of potassium and my body started to shut down.

Along with potassium, coffee also contains caffeine. Sadly caffeine has negative effects on your body so should be minimised. As always there is a down side, right? Luckily dark roasted espresso coffee has the least amount of digestible caffeine per shot. It’s unlikely the amount of caffeine in a single shot of espresso will do as much harm as the potassium can do good.

The amount of potassium coffee contains drops off but caffeine increases as coffee is processed, so instant coffee has the worst ratio making caffeine the dominant feature.

To maximise the potassium released from coffee beans grind the beans immediately before using them. Then add intense heat, like keeping the brew at boiling point  for 20-30 seconds as Southern Europeans do, or go to a Cafe where steaming hot water is forced through the shot. Using a plunger and pouring boiling water over the grind will not release as much potassium.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/09/16/coffee-health-benefits.aspx