The health expert said it was ‘much healthier’ than orange and should be listed as a health food
A health expert has given his recommendation on what people should be drinking every morning – and his top answer may come as a surprise. Professor Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, said people should steer clear of sugary drinks such as smoothies and instead consume the likes of water and tea.
However, he also recommended drinking coffee, before going on to list a number of its health benefits. For many years, it was thought that the levels of caffeine found in coffee made it relatively unhealthy to drink.
Too much caffeine can lead to headaches, insomnia, and even an accelerated heartbeat. Prof Spector said the drink had been ‘demonised’ – but he actually said it is so healthy, it should be listed as a ‘health food’. He added that it was ‘much healthier’ than another breakfast-time favourite – orange juice.
Speaking on The Proof Podcast, he said: “If you are going to drink anything, it should be water, it should be tea, or coffee particularly. (We know) it is now much healthier than orange juice and should be in the health food section because coffee is actually a fermented plant that is actually packed with polyphenols.
“If you have three cups a day, it actually has a reasonable amount of fibre in it. About a third of the US fibre total comes from their coffee drinking, which is a frightening thought.
“I would say your gut microbes don’t like lots of sugar because they don’t get to see any of it. You should avoid all those things.”
Studies have suggested that moderate coffee intake—about 2–5 cups a day—is linked to a lower likelihood of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, liver and endometrial cancers, Parkinson’s disease, and depression. It is even possible that people who drink coffee can reduce their risk of early death.
Interestingly, Prof Spector said that decaffeinated coffee was just as healthy as normal coffee. He has also been working on a scientific paper on coffee and the gut microbiome, and how interactions between the two can reduce our blood pressure and blood sugar.
“It’s a complex area, but I think we’re suddenly putting it together from a drink that was demonised as being very harmful to us to something that actually could be beneficial. It has hundreds, not thousands, of chemicals produced from it,” he continued.
“There’s a range of polyphenols that are enhanced by the microbes as they ferment it. And those have direct effects on our body, and some of them can reduce blood sugar and reduce stress and actually reduce blood pressure. And the studies have now clearly shown that you get nearly as much benefit on the heart with decaffeinated coffee.”
