Coffee with a healthy spin

Feng Shui Coffee combines one of the world’s most popular drinks - coffee - with natural medicinal herbs and minerals designed for maintaining health and wellness and ties it in with the ancient Chinese principles of Feng Shui. It strikes us as an odd combination, but it does involve coffee.

We thought it was more to do with aesthetics, but the concept behind the product is explained thus: "Feng Shui is the practice of balancing the five elements (fire, water, earth, wood and metal) to create a harmonious flow of chi believed to enhance health, happiness and prosperity. In Feng Shui Coffee, the addition of fire and water creates a balance with earth (coffee), wood (herbs) and metal (vitamins and minerals)."

Ingredients include Green Tea, Gingko and Ginseng, which have health benefits that include high antioxidant contents. There are seven different blends offering a variety of health-benefiting properties: the Metabolism blend helps burn calories while reducing lipids and cholesterol; the Energy blend enhances the body’s ability to use stored energy; the Immunity blend boosts the body’s immune system for better cellular defense; the Flexibility blend promotes joint health and reduces stiffness through its anti-inflammatory abilities; the Clarity blend improves short-term memory, attention and mental agility while boosting alertness and concentration; the decaffeinated Soothing blend settles the stomach, treats nausea and promotes better digestion; and lastly, the Calm blend increases the body’s ability to combat environmental stresses and balance hormonal fluctuations.

Now we adore coffee, it tastes great, smells better, it perks you up, but there is a downside, especially if you drink loads of it, and we're not 100% convinced how well it sits with the chi building thing. For the record, coffee beans naturally contain nitrosamines, which increase the risk of developing colon cancer as well as other cancers. Additionally, the caffeine in coffee can deplete the liver of essential nutrients and also stimulate the kidneys and cause an increase in water loss; this increases your risk of dehydration and developing kidney stones. Calcium loss, anxiety, heart palpitations, insomnia, acid reflux, dizziness, headaches and diarrhea are just some of the other potential side effects of high levels of coffee intake.

In the end though, if you are going to drink coffee, it probably cant hurt.. and there is a decaf version.

There's also no mention of Fair Trade in the press material, which may be bad Feng Shui.

Feng Shui Coffee is available online for $12.99 per 12oz bag.