Espresso can raise cholesterol, but the effect is modest. A large Norwegian study found that drinking three to five espressos per day increased total cholesterol by about 3.5 mg/dL in women and 6.2 mg/dL in men compared to non-espresso drinkers. That’s a real but relatively small shift, and it depends on how much you drink, how it’s brewed, and your biological sex.
Why Coffee Affects Cholesterol at All
Coffee beans contain two oily compounds called cafestol and kahweol. These are the culprits behind coffee’s cholesterol-raising effect. When hot water passes through coffee grounds, it pulls these oils into your cup. Once consumed, they interfere with your body’s normal process for regulating cholesterol, specifically by disrupting how your liver processes bile acids. The result is that more cholesterol stays circulating in your blood.
The amount of these oils in your cup depends almost entirely on how the coffee is brewed. A paper filter traps most of them. Brewing methods that skip the filter, like French press, Turkish coffee, or espresso, let more through.
How Espresso Compares to Other Brewing Methods
Espresso sits in the middle of the spectrum. Boiled or French press coffee contains the highest levels of cafestol, around 232 mg per liter. Paper-filtered drip coffee contains just 5 mg per liter, which is negligible. Espresso falls between these extremes: machine-pulled espresso contains roughly 54 mg per liter, while stovetop moka pots produce about 36 mg per liter. Capsule and pod machines vary between 10 and 43 mg per liter.
So espresso delivers roughly one-quarter the cafestol of boiled coffee per unit volume. But here’s the practical catch: a typical espresso shot is only about 1 ounce, while a mug of French press coffee is 8 to 12 ounces. Volume matters. If you’re drinking a single espresso, your total exposure to these oils is quite low. If you’re drinking five or six shots a day, the cumulative amount starts to add up.
What the Numbers Actually Look Like
The Tromsø Study, a large population-based study from Norway involving thousands of adults, measured the association between habitual espresso drinking and total cholesterol. People who drank three to five cups of espresso daily had measurably higher total cholesterol than people who drank none. For women, the increase was 0.09 mmol/L (about 3.5 mg/dL). For men, it was 0.16 mmol/L (about 6.2 mg/dL).
To put that in perspective, total cholesterol levels below 200 mg/dL are considered desirable. An increase of 3 to 6 mg/dL is unlikely to push someone from a healthy range into a concerning one on its own. But for someone already near the borderline of 200 to 239 mg/dL, even small additions matter. And this study measured total cholesterol rather than breaking out LDL (“bad” cholesterol) specifically, which leaves an open question about whether the increase is concentrated in the type of cholesterol that poses the most cardiovascular risk.
Men and Women Respond Differently
One of the more interesting findings from the Tromsø Study is that men showed a consistently stronger cholesterol response to espresso than women. The difference was statistically significant. This sex-based gap appeared for espresso and other coffee types, with the exception of boiled and French press coffee, where men and women responded similarly.
The reasons aren’t fully clear, but hormonal differences in how the liver metabolizes fats likely play a role. For men who drink espresso regularly and already have elevated cholesterol, this finding is worth noting.
Practical Ways to Reduce the Effect
If you enjoy espresso but want to minimize its impact on your cholesterol, a few adjustments can help.
- Switch to paper-filtered coffee for your main cups. A standard drip coffee maker with a paper filter removes almost all of the cholesterol-raising oils. You can keep espresso as an occasional drink rather than your primary source of caffeine.
- Watch your daily volume. One or two espresso shots contain far less cafestol than five or six. The cholesterol effect is dose-dependent, so cutting back reduces your exposure proportionally.
- Consider your brewing device. Pod and capsule machines tend to produce lower cafestol levels than traditional espresso machines, likely because the sealed capsule and shorter extraction reduce oil transfer.
For most people drinking one or two espressos a day, the cholesterol impact is minimal and unlikely to meaningfully change their cardiovascular risk profile. The concern is more relevant for heavy daily drinkers, especially those who already have borderline or elevated cholesterol. If you fall into that category, switching your everyday coffee to filtered and saving espresso for occasional enjoyment is a simple, effective compromise.