Pairing Supplements With Coffee? Here’s The Risk

Many need a regular dose of food supplements along with daily normal diet to fill in their nutritional deficiency. These supplements act as concentrated sources of nutrients like vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs, etc. required by the body to boost adequate nutrient uptake, energy, resistance, strength and so on. They can be taken in the form of capsules, pills, powder, beadlets, liquids, et al. Even macronutrients like proteins and carbohydrates can be consumed as dietary supplements in powder and gel form. However, these components should never be considered food substitutes or medicinal treatments.

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The medical advisory further rings alarm bells suggesting that one must be careful of not pairing these supplements with other foods while consuming the same, especially beverages like tea and coffee. This is because certain food types collide with the supplements and trigger a chemical reaction to counter its health effects, which could be detrimental to the human body.

Supplements sans coffee

The popular supplements used on a regular basis are iron, calcium, magnesium and some vitamins. The food stuff with which we should avoid taking these supplements is most commonly tea or coffee. “Your morning cup of piping hot, refreshing and stimulating coffee could interfere with the prescribed intake of nutritional agents,” informs Dr Murtaza S Bagwala, head of emergency medical services at Saifee Hospital in Mumbai.

Seconding his opinion, Dr. Amit Saraf, general physician, DNB coordinator and a specialist in internal medicine at Jupiter Hospital in Thane (Maharashtra) states: “Minerals and vitamins like iron, calcium, magnesium, vitamin D and B-complex vitamins are essential for building health and that’s why need to be optimally absorbed into the body but coffee may inhibit this biological process.”

Bonding with the worst

Physicians also confirm that people’s compulsive pattern of bonding the staple coffee with their stipulated supplements may not cause immediate harm but over time, it can induce poor nutrient absorption.

“This is all the more important for those who are already diagnosed with lack of nutrients in their body and majorly rely on supplements to compensate for the deficits as well as to regain energy and be on the mend,” insists Dr Honey Savla, consultant internal medicine, Wockhardt Hospitals in Mumbai Central.

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Deadly combo

Explaining the potential damages that can be inflicted upon by this harmful coordination, Dr Bagwala says: “In tea and coffee, a chemical compound or a substance called tannin is found apart from polyphenols and caffeine. It chelates or binds itself to the elemental ion (metal ions like iron, copper or zinc are normally consumed in tablet form, such as iron supplements), required by the human body to replenish its iron stores. So, when this tannin is released from beverages, it instantly clings to iron and prevents the element to get fully absorbed in the blood.”

Similarly, calcium is another metal that could forge a lethal amalgamation with coffee, he notes. “This is because caffeine-containing coffee normally increases the level of urinary calcium loss, which in turn, weakens the bone health and structure over time,” he warns.

Magnesium is another supplement expelled from the body by the caffeine-generating coffee with its catalytic role played in diuretic process. In other words, coffee raises the quantity of urine discharge and disables kidneys to suck up magnesium, thus leaving it to be flushed out of the system.

Again, caffeine confronts vitamin D supplement and disrupts the human body’s receptivity of the vital nutrient. Vitamin D is usually consumed with foods rich in fat content and those showing shortage of the same in their medical test reports, should take it with a glass of milk that helps absorb calcium and phosphorus to fortify their bones and teeth, muscles, nerve function and immunity. This curbs the risk of injury and inflammation to a great degree. Additionally, absorption of multivitamins like vitamin B1 thiamine in the B-complex category is deterred by the caffeine-infused brew.

Dr Savla perceives that “iron is the biggest concern among all goodness elements. Regularly taking iron with coffee can delay improvement in iron deposits, especially in women or patients detected with anemia. This can also trigger continuous fatigue and feebleness.”

In line with the aforementioned explanation, Dr. Saraf maintains that “the natural constituents in coffee, such as caffeine and tannin, possess the power to obstruct nutrient absorption. The mineral that suffers the most from coffee consumption is iron because the amount absorbed is reduced by 50%.”

For people with “low levels of hemoglobin, drinking coffee is very dangerous since it might result in bloodlessness due to dearth of iron supply in the body,” reveals Dr. Saraf.

“Similar crisis is related to calcium when its absorption rate slumps. Scientific studies provide evidence that caffeine stimulates the excretion of calcium,” he reports.

Food supplements not to take with coffee:

• Iron

• Calcium

• Magnesium

• Vitamin D

• Multivitamins like vitamin B1 thiamine belongs to the water-soluble B-complex class

Perfect intake time

• Patients are always advised to take iron supplements ideally on an empty stomach. So if you take iron tablets early morning, then have your breakfast after an hour or so. This maximises iron absorption. Or else, you may take it in the afternoon at least a couple of hours before lunch time. Leave a time gap of minimum one to two hours between your iron intake and a cup of coffee.

• Consuming calcium with a good meal improves its absorption quality. So having the element in the afternoon shows a better outcome.

• Magnesium intake is normally recommended at night before retiring to bed. A restful sleep helps relax the body and controls its depletion through urine during the daytime.

• Vitamin D is best ingested with meals comprising heaps of dietary fat. It is fine to have it with fatty meals either at lunch or dinner.

• B12 complex tablets like the vitamin B12 alongside other B vitamins are energy-dense nutritional supplements that aid nerve function and promote red blood cell creation. It is apt to be taken in the morning to produce results as it switches on the energy button and puts the consumer in the active mode to negotiate the day ahead. It gives one a fresh and hopefully, a flying start.

• For vitamin C and other associated complexes, there is no fixed time to pop the pills. The supplement can be taken at any suitable time.

• In general, medicos instruct to take supplements usually two hours after sipping the coffee. Iron is most effective when consumed with vitamin C-rich food.

• Plain water is always the safest choice to complement a supplement. Fat-soluble vitamins like vitamin D interact well with food.

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