Reward yourself every morning with a hot cup of coffee – be it black, with milk or cream – the ritual of pouring a hot mug is one of life’s simple pleasures. While coffee may stimulate our wakeful senses and provide other health benefits when consumed responsibly; studies link its consumption to reduced risks for heart disease, diabetes and Parkinson’s.

One common habit may thwart these potential benefits for many coffee drinkers – adding milk to their coffee. Milk can bind with polyphenols found in coffee, making them less effective at fighting inflammation. Polyphenols are an essential group of organic compounds with multiple health-promoting benefits including antioxidative, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties.

Full fat milk has proven itself the ideal partner to coffee due to its creamy texture and high-fat content, and baristas often opt for full-fat versions when mixing their caffeinated beverages with sugar. Reduced-fat milks tend to lose some of their flavour when used alongside caffeine-laden beverages.

Recently, food scientists examined the interaction of polyphenols found in coffee beans with protein-spiked dairy. Their team discovered that antioxidants combined with proteins caused twice as much anti-inflammatory action to occur within immune cells than either one alone could. Artificial inflammation tests were then conducted on these same cells in order to see whether polyphenol-protein combinations would still work effectively at combatting inflammation as the original polyphenols alone did.

Studies suggest that pairing protein-rich dairy with antioxidant-rich coffee may enhance its anti-inflammatory benefits and potentially ease symptoms associated with inflammation, such as joint stiffness and digestive disorders.

Drinking milk with coffee may help protect the esophagus from being compromised by its acidity in the long term, though excess consumption may still pose health issues such as insomnia, high blood pressure and cholesterol issues.

There are various plant-based alternatives to dairy milk available today, such as oat, almond and coconut milks. While these plant-based beverages boast lower calories and saturated fat counts while boasting creamy textures reminiscent of cow’s milk beverages, their lack of vitamins and minerals means they cannot replace cow’s milk as an accompaniment for coffee drinking.

Avoiding sugar when preparing coffee is key to making it healthy, as too much processed sugar can wreak havoc with our hormonal health, leading to obesity, inflammatory diseases and acne breakouts. An ideal amount of sugar for any beverage consumed should not exceed 5 g per serving; in addition to limiting how much processed sugar you ingest try swapping out for decaffeinated versions which have been linked with lower blood pressure and better heart health; one decaf cup has half as much caffeine content than its caffeinated counterpart.