In general, people who drink coffee do not have higher cholesterol levels than people who abstain from coffee drinking. Only coffee that has been brewed by the boiled method, peculiar to Scandinavia, has been found to raise serum cholesterol levels. Simply filtering the boiled coffee using paper before drinking can eliminate this effect.

Individual responses and study protocols vary, but studies suggest that continual drinking of unfiltered boiled coffee may be a factor in raising serum cholesterol levels by up to 10%. The causative agents are two compounds in the coffee-oil: cafestol and kahweol. These are retained in the filter paper; hence there is no elevating effect of paper-filtered coffee on cholesterol level. Caffeine in coffee does not raise serum cholesterol.