When is the right time to drink coffee?

Do you drink coffee with breakfast or immediately after eating? If you have this habit, be aware, this habit of drinking coffee interferes with the body's absorption of nutrients from food. Coffee contains a thousand chemical compounds. Chemical compounds such as caffeine, polyphenols and tannins are the main ones. They affect the absorption of nutrients in the body.

However, in most people, this effect is minimal. The possibility of an immediate effect on the body is unlikely. Nutrients are substances that are obtained from our food and drink and are essential for the body. We need different nutrients to stay healthy.

According to Alex Ruani, a doctoral researcher in Nutrition Science Education at University College London and chief science educator at the Health Sciences Academy, drinking coffee with or shortly after a meal does not completely block the absorption of nutrients from food. But it does reduce it.

The effect depends on the strength of the coffee, the amount of nutrients, a person’s age, metabolism, health status and genetics. He says it affects nutrients such as calcium, iron and vitamins.

“If the body’s nutrient levels are adequate, coffee has no effect,” says Emily, director of the Linus Pauling Institute and professor in the College of Health at Oregon State University. “But if the body’s levels are low, drinking a lot of coffee will further reduce the nutrient levels.”

A study conducted in the 1980s found a link between drinking coffee and reduced iron absorption. “If you drink coffee with your meal, the polyphenols in it can bind to some of the minerals in your digestive system,” she says.

This process can make it harder for the body to absorb iron. Because minerals in the body have to pass through intestinal cells to reach the blood. “If these minerals bind to polyphenols, they are excreted from the body without reaching the blood.”

In the UK, people aged 16 to 49 years old consume less calcium than the Lowest Reference Nutrient Intake (LRNI) through their diet. This increases the risk of developing weak bones. Calcium is essential for our bones.

Similarly, our kidneys remove waste and excess water from our blood through urine and maintain a balance of chemicals (such as sodium, potassium and calcium) in the body. These elements also make up our blood.

According to the study, caffeine affects the process of stabilizing calcium in the body, because it interferes with the process of calcium processing in the kidneys and its absorption in the intestines. However, its effect is minimal.

A study published in the Osteoporosis International Journal has mentioned that caffeine weakens bones. Because caffeine affects bone metabolism. But Alex Ruani says that more studies are needed to determine how caffeine affects the risk of osteoporosis.