In the Internet, information is common that coffee and milk drinks are not digested and can harm the body. We decided to check if such fears are justified.

The fact that Latte, Kapuchino and other types of coffee with the addition of milk are poorly digested, and with regular use can lead to the formation of kidney stones and even to the development of cancer, they write Cognitive portals, Nutrition resources And online stores. Some nutrition experts and at all They sayThat these are absolutely incompatible products, and when opening corpses in the stomachs, they allegedly often detect undigident coffee with milk. Avoiding this combination in the diet recommends that some Media.

The idea that coffee with the addition of milk is not digested and can adversely affect the digestive system is by no means new. Back in 1857, Scientific American was published in the publication article, where the corresponding considerations of one French doctor were given. However, his conclusions were based on the results of some experiments on himself and his friends, which can hardly be considered convincing evidence.

“Checked” more than once analyzed myths related to coffee: supposedly he Slow down growth children and adolescents leads to dehydration And contributes reduction of the chest In women. None of these statements could confirm - it turned out that from the point of view of science, coffee was far from so terrible.

Office for Sanitary Supervision of the quality of food and US medicines (FDA) claimsthat coffee and other caffein -containing drinks and foods (tea, chocolate, energy) can be safely included in the diet - they are harmless in reasonable amounts. Reasonable in the case of coffee FDA considers the use of not more than 400 mg of caffeine per day, that is, about two or three cups of a drink of 350 ml. This recommendation is based on systematic review American scientists published in 2017. However, a “cup of coffee” is not a completely standardized concept, since the content of caffeine even in classic espresso can differ Depending on the type of coffee stakes and a frying method. Excessive use of caffeine can lead to side effects: increasing blood pressure, headaches, nausea, insomnia, etc. However, judging by the statistical data, people who regularly use coffee live longer, and the risk of developing diabetes, cardiovascular and some other diseases in them. As for oncology, according to the current scientific data, coffee also promotes more decrease The risk of cancer development than provokes it.

No convincing data that milk in the general case can harm a person’s health in any way, is “verified” could not find. Some people suffer from Lactose intolerance - A carbohydrate contained in milk, and they should not add ordinary cow milk to coffee. But in large supermarkets now it is easy to find lactose analogues, and many coffee houses include such an option in their menu.

Could there be harm from the use of products together, which individually are quite harmless? “Verified” could not be found on authoritative scientific and medical resources recommendations to avoid a combination of coffee and milk in the diet. In the most part of the Alarmist articles on the dangers of Kapuchino or Latte, it is stated that when two drinks mixed with the Casein protein in milk, it reacts with tanins in coffee, forming an indigestible sediment - and it is supposedly that leads to oncological diseases and other health problems. However, scientists from the American Chemical Society in 2024 published results Studies devoted to the interaction of substances in coffee and milk. At the molecular level, they studied the properties of an aqueous solution of whole fat (3.5%) milk, aqueous solution with milk and caffeine, as well as a manually boiled cappuccino. During the observations, it turned out that the components of caffeine did not affect the structure and molecular mobility of milk proteins - the components of milk “behaved” when interacting with coffee as usual, and their taste did not change.

Since the concept of “coffee with milk” is blurred and two drinks, even prepared from the same grains and milk in the same coffee shop, may differ slightly, their studies are quite limited. Nevertheless, there are some scientific data, indicating that milk components can reduce the bioavailability of useful polyphenols contained in the coffee (substances with antioxidant properties) and coffee with the addition of milk can be less useful for the body than just black.

Other studies show the opposite result. So, in 2023, scientists from the University of Copenhagen found outHow polyphenols interact with amino acids in the composition of milk. They conducted an experiment on immune cells in which inflammation artificially provoked. Before this, only polyphenols were acted on one group of cells, and the second - with amino acid polyphenols, and the third (control) (control) was not exposed at all. It turned out that the cells from the second group coped with inflammation much faster than the other two. But despite the fact that the results of the in vitro experiment look promising, to judge whether the effect of coffee with milk in the human body (that is, in vivo) has the same effect, while it is necessary for unambiguous conclusions additional studies are needed.

How coffee with milk is precisely different from black is a calorie content. If in 100 ml espresso contains 9 kcal, then in the same volume Latte - Already 43 kcal. Therefore, when losing weight, add milk to coffee is indeed not the best strategy. But the same - and even to a greater extent - applies, for example, sugar.

Thus, “verified” did not find convincing scientific evidence that coffee with milk is dangerous for health, is not digested and leads to the development of cancer or other diseases. There is some scientific data that milk can reduce the bioavailability of the useful components of caffeine, however, experiments have been conducted with reverse results, so so far the information is quite contradictory and additional research is required for unambiguous conclusions. But even if the most pessimistic conclusions of scientists about the influence of milk on the digestibility of the nutrients of caffeine are confirmed, this is still about the smaller benefits of this drink, and not about its harm. Kapuchino and other coffee drinks with milk can be conditionally called more harmful than black coffee, only in case of combating overweight - they are really much more high -calorie.

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