So says Professor Tim Spector, the King’s College London epidemiologist celebrated for his work on diet and the microbiome.
The following statement may come as a bit of a surprise: “Coffee is a healthy drink,” says Spector. “It should be in the health drinks section.”
Healthier, even, than a fresh orange juice. “Most people wouldn’t believe that. There is more fibre in a cup of coffee than a glass of orange juice. Coffee also has more of the defence chemicals, polyphenols, which combined with fibre actually help to feed our gut microbes without any adverse sugar effects. So, we should be drinking more coffee (preferably black) – and if coffee isn’t right for you due to caffeine sensitivity, decaf, surprisingly, has a lot of the same benefits.”
Tea drinkers take note: “Black tea is not as good as black coffee. Green tea is somewhere in the middle.”
Spector adds: “People might have to force themselves to have their coffee as medicine – and tea as pleasure.”