Is coffee mold actually making you sick?
Nutrition Diva
Macmillan Holdings, LLC
4.4 • 1.8K Ratings
🗓️ 18 March 2026
⏱️ 12 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
856. According to the internet, your morning brew might be hiding "mold toxins" that cause brain fog, fatigue, and digestive issues. But is mold-free coffee a bona fide health breakthrough, or just a clever marketing play?
This week, Monica takes a closer look at the science of mycotoxins in coffee, specifically Ochratoxin A (OTA). We separate food safety facts from "wellness guru" fiction to find out if standard coffee beans are actually undermining your health.
- What Mycotoxins Are: Understanding the difference between visible mold and chemical compounds like Aflatoxin and Ochratoxin A.
- The Roasting Defense: Why the roasting process is your best protection against toxins and why "green coffee" products carry different risks.
- Hazard vs. Risk: A crucial distinction in food safety—is the presence of a toxin the same thing as a threat to your health?
- Practical Prevention: 4 simple steps to minimize exposure—from checking "roasted on" dates to proper home storage—without paying a premium for specialty brands.
- The Big Picture: How coffee compares to tea, herbal infusions, and cocoa when it comes to OTA levels.
Related Episodes:
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | According to the internet, your coffee might be full of mold toxins, |
| 0:05.3 | a problem that you can solve by buying more expensive mold-free beans. |
| 0:10.3 | But when a product is marketed as being safe, |
| 0:13.7 | from a hazard that's already generally pretty low, |
| 0:16.4 | you do have to wonder whether a problem is being solved or created. |
| 0:27.7 | Hello, I'm Monica Rineagle, and you are listening to The Nutrition Diva podcast, |
| 0:32.4 | a show where we take a closer look at nutrition news, research, and trends, and answer your food and nutrition questions |
| 0:39.2 | so that you can feel more confident about what you eat. Before we get started, take a quick look |
| 0:46.0 | at your podcast app right now. Notice anything different? That's right. The Nutrition Diva show has a |
| 0:52.9 | fresh new look, and you are among the very first to see it. |
| 0:57.2 | Now, nothing else is changing here, same show, same host, just a new design to reflect how the show has grown over the years. |
| 1:06.4 | So if you like our new look, we'd love to hear from you. You can reach me at nutrition at |
| 1:11.4 | quick and dirty tips.com. And hey, while I'm at it, let me just mention that one of the best |
| 1:17.2 | ways to support the show is by leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts. So if you are so inclined, |
| 1:24.6 | it is always very much appreciated. And now, let's get on with the show. |
| 1:29.5 | Today's episode was prompted by Debbie, who wrote with a question about mold in coffee. |
| 1:36.5 | As she noted, there is some sketchy information about this floating around the internet, |
| 1:42.2 | claims that coffee is a major source of mold toxins, |
| 1:46.6 | which could be quietly undermining your health, causing things like fatigue, brain fog, |
| 1:52.5 | or digestive issues. Some wellness gurus have gone so far as to launch their own brands of coffee, |
| 1:59.2 | which claim to be mold-free. |
| 2:02.0 | As we'll see, this may be more marketing genius than bona fide health breakthrough. |
... |
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