You may find the idea of eating coffee grounds off-putting, but they’re packed with antioxidants, also called dietary phenolic compounds. These compounds promote heart health, perhaps more so than drinking coffee.
Antioxidants fight free radicals in the body that can cause cancer. They also help protect our skin from the aging process.
Antioxidants can be found in many fresh foods. For example, spinach, beets, red cabbage, artichokes, kale, raspberries, strawberries, and walnuts. Even dark chocolate is a source of antioxidants. In fact, it contains more antioxidants than blueberries and raspberries. If you consume products rich in cocoa, such as dark chocolate, they can lower your blood pressure.
Coffee grounds are also useful for other things, so don’t waste them. If you really think you can’t eat them (and why should you?), there are plenty of things you can do with them.
In the garden, coffee grounds are an excellent insect repellant and nutrient for plants like roses. They are also a fertilizer and you can add wood ash or lime to the soil to make a really good fertilizer. If you have a lot of compost, add coffee grounds to it because they are rich in nitrogen. It seems that worms are attracted to the soil, so the soil in your garden will benefit from their activity.
Did you know that carrots love coffee grounds? If you mix your coffee grounds with your carrot seeds, you will boost their growth. You’ll get bigger and better carrots than ever.
You can also use the grounds of the house. They absorb odors, so putting some in an open container will neutralize food odors in your fridge and freezer. You can happily leave the container for a few weeks and the grounds will continue to work their magic.
Grounds are abrasive, so if you have tough stains on your kitchen counters, you can sprinkle some grounds on a cleaning cloth (preferably an old one) and scrub the counters without damaging them. You can also use them to clean dishes that have food stains on them that are difficult to remove.
If you make your own candles, you can add the grounds to the wax and make coffee-scented candles.
You can even use coffee grounds to exfoliate your skin or do a facial with them. If you add the grounds to warm water and add a natural oil, you will have a great scrub. For a facial mix, try mixing 2 tablespoons of ground coffee with an equal amount of cocoa powder, one tablespoon of honey, and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or whole milk.
Coffee grounds have many uses, so don’t throw them away even if you don’t want to eat them!