▲Research results have recently been published showing that adding milk to coffee increases the anti-inflammatory effect.
[메디컬투데이=김동주 기자] The domestic coffee market is growing every year. This is why coffee is one of the most popular foods among Koreans. According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation (aT), the size of the domestic coffee market last year amounted to 3.1717 trillion won. In particular, with the spread of the home café trend after the coronavirus, the roasted coffee market has recorded an average annual growth rate of 17.4% since 2018.
According to market research firm Euromonitor, in 2023, Korea’s annual per capita coffee consumption will be 405 cups, which is higher than the annual per capita coffee consumption in the world (105 cups) and the United States (318 cups). Domestic coffee consumption per capita increased by an average of 2.8% per year compared to 363 cups in 2018.
As coffee permeates our lives, various studies are continually being published on the relationship between coffee consumption and health. Among these, the results of research were recently published showing that adding milk to coffee increases the anti-inflammatory effect, making it a hot topic. When the polyphenols contained in coffee combine with milk proteins, the anti-inflammatory effect increases twice compared to regular coffee.
Coffee is rich in polyphenols, a representative anti-inflammatory substance. Polyphenol is a natural compound found in plant foods such as fruits, vegetables and seeds and is a substance composed of two or more phenolic groups, which are aromatic alcohols. The main cause of inflammation is an increase in oxidative stress in cells, and the hydroxyl group (-OH) of phenol prevents oxidation and reduces oxidative stress. Polyphenols found in coffee include caffeine, chlorogenic acid, diterpenes, and trigonelline.
Coffee is particularly rich in polyphenols. Green tea, black tea and oolong tea, known to have a high polyphenol content, contained around 115g, 96g and 39g respectively, while coffee had the highest content with an average of 200g. With just one cup of coffee you can consume about half of the polyphenols that an average adult consumes through food every day.
When this polyphenol is absorbed by proteins, its ability to protect cells becomes stronger. Milk is rich in proteins. Instead of just drinking coffee, you can enjoy more of the anti-inflammatory effects of polyphenols by adding protein-rich milk to make a latte or cappuccino.
In this regard, Professor Lee Young-woo from the Department of Food and Nutrition of Hanyang Women’s University said: “With synergistic interactions, coffee polyphenols and milk proteins can interact synergistically to create a greater combined effect than the sum of their individual effects.” “The effect may enhance anti-inflammatory properties,” he explained.
In fact, a research group from the Department of Food Sciences of the University of Copenhagen, in Denmark, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry the results of research on the effects on our body when the protein components of milk and coffee meet .
After artificially inducing inflammation in immune cells, the research team added a combination of polyphenols and amino acids to group A, added only polyphenols to group B, and added nothing to group C. As a result of subsequent analysis, the group A, which contained polyphenols and amino acids together, had twice as much inflammation as group B, which contained only polyphenols.
The research team actually tested adding milk to coffee and found that the anti-inflammatory effect increased due to the interaction between coffee polyphenols and milk proteins.
Professor Marien Lund, who led the study, said: “The anti-inflammatory reaction of coffee polyphenols and milk proteins occurred very quickly, when fruit or vegetables are combined with other foods composed of proteins, a beneficial anti-inflammatory. an inflammatory reaction will occur.”
Milk Subsidy Management Committee “If you like to drink latte coffee with milk in your coffee, you will kill two birds with one stone by not only enjoying the taste but also taking care of your health. Furthermore, milk itself contains several antioxidant substances. Representative ingredients such as vitamins A and E and carotenoids remove oxygen radicals, which are excess oxygen that is not good for the body, and help improve the body’s immune function.
[ⓒ 메디컬투데이. 무단전재-재배포 금지]
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