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Like most others, brewing yourself a cup of morning coffee must be a ritual for you too. But do you get confused on deciding whether to add milk in it or not? Do you find yourself divided between the health benefits of black coffee and the taste provided by milk coffee?
It is highly likely that your decision gets influenced by all the hype created around the harms of adding milk in your coffee. But that is not always the case, there are a number of benefits of coffee with milk.
The benefits of coffee with milk can not be undermined by the hype created by the benefits of black coffee.
Coffee serves as an energy booster and helps people increase their efficiency at work.
People often link black coffee with better health and instant energy. Milk is considered to be the culprit of all things bad, a cup of coffee can cause. But is milk the real culprit here?
There are several benefits of coffee with milk, ranging from increased satiety and added nutrition to better taste, but in the end, it remains a personal choice.
Here are a few things to consider before adding milk to your coffee.
Benefits of Coffee With Milk
Milk Coffee and Weight Gain
There is no doubt that coffee with milk is far more calorie dense than black coffee. Black coffee is the preferred choice of weight watchers. But not everybody is looking forward to lose weight and for the people who are, coffee with milk can offer them a spectrum of choices, from low fat coffee creamers to skimmed milk.
Whole milk substitutes like skimmed milk, soy milk and almond milk can be added to the coffee to avoid extra fat but still adding onto the taste.
The Added Calories
There is no denying in the fact that coffee with milk provides extra calories, but are calories always bad? As opposed to contrary belief calories are not always bad, it depends on individual needs and wants.
People drink coffee at their workplace or on the go. A cup or two of coffee with milk can easily act as a replacement for proper meal. One ounce of whole milk provides you with approximately 18 calories, enough to keep you going until your next meal.
The added milk also causes increased satiety, keeping you full for a longer time and allowing you to work without breaks.
Milk and It’s Nutrients
Milk contains a number of essential macro and micro nutrients. It serves as a whole food with adequate amounts of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Milk is one of the chief sources of calcium, which helps maintain bone health.
Coffee with milk is far more calorie and nutrient dense than black coffee. People often avoid drinking milk on its own so its better to take the recommended dosage through your daily coffee.
Satisfying Your Taste Buds
Although taste is subjective and varies from person to person but coffee with milk is far less bitter, making it acceptable by many.
People tend to avoid coffee and milk on their own, not allowing themselves to get good nutrition from either, but a fusion of both can be tasty and very much acceptable.
Milk Coffee and Relaxing Evenings
A hot cuppa with milk in the evening can help you calm your nerves and prepare you for a sound sleep later at night. Yes, you read that right, the same coffee that gives you jolts of energy in the morning can be used to relax you in the evening.
As opposed to coffee with milk, black coffee can hyperactivate you and hinder your sleeping, so it’s wise to add some milk into your evening cup of coffee.
Preventing Acidity
Cups after cups of coffee can lead to stomach acidity. Coffee in any form has high pH but black coffee is particularly high in pH causing severe acidity in stomach.
Although people with stomach acidity should avoid coffee altogether, it still is wise to take coffee with milk rather than black coffee. Milk can help neutralize the acidic pH of coffee. Hence, lessening the acidity and pain it may cause.
Prevent Esophageal Cancer
One of the main concerns regarding excessive intake of coffee is its link to the development of esophageal cancer. This too can be prevented by adding milk or a creamer to the coffee.
It is common knowledge that the very high temperature of coffee is linked to thermal burns. These burns are a leading cause for the development of esophageal cancer.
When coffee is mixed with somewhat less hot milk, the overall temperature is moderated, preventing excessive thermal burns.
Is Milk the Real Culprit?
Coffee with milk is regarded as unhealthy and the cause for weight gain. But is milk the real culprit? Although milk has always taken the blame for all things bad a cup of coffee can cause but milk was never the actual culprit.
The real culprit have always been the heaped spoons of sugar and full scoops of cream added into the coffee. In comparison to the spoons full of sugar added into coffee the calories provided by an ounce or two of milk are negligible. So, for people watching for fitness should make sugar their enemy, not milk.
Milk is also related to facial acne due to its hormonal nature. But here too, sugar causes more harm than milk dose. The excessive use of processed sugar wreaks havoc in our hormonal health, causing hormonal acne and other issues. People suffering from hormonal imbalances should avoid sugar not only in there coffee, but in all other foods too.
The Bottom Line
The benefits of coffee with milk should not be neglected by citing vague assumptions and misconstrued evidences. In the end it all trickles down to the personal choice of the consumer.
People looking to cut down all the extra calories should avoid milk in coffee. In contrast, people looking to collect the extra nutrients should add milk. People looking for instant bolts of energy should stay away from milk but, people wanting to keep themselves full for longer should go for the milk.
Coffee being a vital part of one’s life, it is important to take into consideration all the proven benefits of adding milk to coffee along with certain ill implications it may posses.
This one decision may effect your productivity for the day and health for the rest of your life. it is always wise to consult a nutritionist and get yourself assessed before making a dietary change.
FAQs
Is milk coffee good for weight loss?
Whole milk contains a lot of calories and fat, making it unsuitable for weight loss. These extra calories can be avoided by using skimmed milk and other alternates but none of them will have calories as low as black coffee.
Does coffee with milk cause weight gain?
Although milk adds extra calories in coffee but considering the small amount of added milk these calories are not enough to cause drastic weight gain. For people avoiding to gain weight the focus should be the added sugar, as the sugar provides excessive calories which may lead drastic gain in weight.
Is milk coffee good for health?
Coffee with added milk provides all the macro nutrients in good amounts; just one ounce of milk provides approximately 1.5 g of carbohydrates, 1g of protein and 1 gram of fat. Milk also provides essential micro nutrients like calcium, with 100 g of milk providing 123 mg of calcium.
