
Most People Ruin the Health Benefits of Coffee (and Tea) Without Realizing It - There’s an Easy Fix
Physionic
Jun 26, 2025
Mindsip insights from this episode:
Avoid adding milk to tea to preserve vascular benefits
Adding milk to tea can completely eliminate its positive effects on flow-mediated dilation, a key measure of blood vessel health.
Avoid milk to maximize health benefits of coffee and tea
It is believed that proteins in milk bind to the beneficial polyphenols in coffee and tea, making them inert and unable to be absorbed by the body.
Avoid milk in coffee to maximize polyphenol absorption
Adding milk to coffee was shown to reduce the absorption of its most potent polyphenols, like chlorogenic acid, over a 24-hour period.
Evaluate long-term health outcomes beyond short-term data on milk
The evidence against milk is based on short-term measures, which may not reflect actual long-term health outcomes like cancer or cardiovascular disease rates.
Investigate long-term health outcomes of coffee and tea with milk
The speaker could not find any long-term studies over decades that tracked actual health outcomes for people drinking coffee and tea with versus without milk.
Drink coffee and tea plain for optimal health benefits
Despite weak evidence, if you want the best health 'bang for your buck,' consuming coffee and tea plain is likely superior to drinking it with milk.
More from
Physionic
You also might be interested in
Ben Greenfield Finally Discovers The Healthiest, Tastiest Beef & Steaks (& Learns How To Cook Them Perfectly) with Dr. Phil Bass.
Superfoods Of The Sea, Why "Wild-Caught" Fish Are DIRTY, Fish Oil vs. Fish & More With Seatopia's James Arthur Smith
Bonus: Why Chronic Disease Is Exploding (Full Conversation with Daniel Schmachtenberger)
Gut Health: The Truth You’ve Never Been Told
The Chemistry of Food & Taste | Dr. Harold McGee