They discover that a simple coffee with milk has an unimaginable health benefit

Could something as simple as a latte macchiato have a beneficial anti-inflammatory effect? Well, according to one study, yes, from this drink combines proteins and antioxidantswhich doubles the anti-inflammatory properties in human immune cells.

When bacteria, viruses and other foreign substances enter our body, the immune system responds deploying white blood cells and chemicals that protect usa reaction called inflammation, which also occurs when tendons and muscles are overstretched or in diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Antioxidants or polyphenols, present in humans, plants, fruit and vegetables, are used in the food industry to slow down oxidation and make foods last longer, but they are also healthy for humans, because they help to reduce the oxidative stress of the organism which causes inflammation.

Despite its advantages, it knows very little about polyphenols. Very few studies have investigated what happens when polyphenols react with other molecules, such as proteins found in some foods.

Now a new study of the University of Copenhagen studied the anti-inflammatory effect of combining polyphenols and proteins, and the results were promising.

“We have shown that when a polyphenol reacts with an amino acid, its inflammation-inhibiting effect on immune cells is enhanced. It is therefore clearly conceivable that this cocktail could also have a beneficial effect on inflammation in humans,” he explains. Marianne Nissen Lundwho conducted the investigation.

The study was published this Monday in the journal Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

researchers caused an artificial inflammation to immune cells. Subsequently, some received various doses of polyphenols that had reacted with an amino acid, others received polyphenols alone, and a control group received nothing.

They found that immune cells treated with the combination of polyphenols and amino acids were twice as effective at fighting inflammation than cells to which polyphenols alone were added.

Previous studies by this team had shown that polyphenols bind to proteins in meat products, milk and beer.

For this study, they tested whether the molecules also bind to each other when you mix coffee with milk (coffee is rich in polyphenols and milk is rich in proteins).

“Our result demonstrates that the reaction between polyphenols and proteins also occurs in the milk we studied. In fact, the reaction happens so quickly which has been difficult to avoid in any of the foods we’ve studied so far,” says Lund.

The researcher is convinced that this reaction and the potential beneficial anti-inflammatory effect is also produced by combining other foods of which it is composed protein and fruit or vegetables.

The industry and the research community, aware of the great benefits of polyphenols, are studying how to add the adequate amounts of polyphenols in food to obtain the best quality.

“Since humans don’t absorb as many polyphenols, many researchers are investigating how to encapsulate them in protein structures that enhance their absorption into the body. This strategy has the added benefit of improving the anti-inflammatory effects of polyphenols“concludes the researcher.

EFE extension