Good news for people who like milk or cream in their coffee

There is a lot of scientific interest in the antioxidants in coffee, and their potential benefits on human health. However, the bioavailability of coffee antioxidants, the extent to which they are available to the body, in the presence of milk, or sugar and nondairy creamer has not been studied until now. Scientists from the Nestlé Research Centre, Switzerland, have just published a new study showing that these antioxidants are as bioavailable in coffee with or without milk.

The lead author, Dr Mathieu Renouf said, “Up until now there has been very little known about how proteins, especially from milk, influence the bioavailability and efficacy of coffee antioxidants. Our study is the first to show that coffee antioxidants are just as bioavailable in coffee with milk, as they are in black coffee.”

The authors also found that the overall bioavailability of coffee antioxidants is not influenced by the addition of milk or of nondairy creamer and sugar.

This new study is published today in the The Journal of Nutrition