Why You Shouldn’t Drink Coffee After a Meal

You need your morning coffee after you finish up breakfast and a cup of hot cappuccino after lunch. And chances are you need that strong espresso to flush down a heavy lunch or to keep yourself going for the rest of the day. Truth is, the time when you are enjoying your cup of Java could be affecting your health more than you thought. Turns out, the habit of savoring a cup of coffee post-meal can impact your health and your looks.

We at Bright Side can’t imagine a day without a hot cup of coffee, and we decided to find out why drinking it after a meal is a habit worth breaking.

1. It may dry out your skin.

A cup of delicious coffee can wake you up in the morning and benefit your health in many ways. But drinking it directly after a meal won’t allow your body to get all the nutrients from food and can cut down iron absorption by a whopping 80 percent. When your body doesn’t get enough iron, it affects you in numerous ways, and it will be especially visible on your skin. It might become paler and drier than usual, making wrinkles more visible.

2. It can damage your teeth.

Drinking coffee right after a meal can slow down your body’s ability to absorb other essential minerals, including calcium. We naturally lose calcium through hair and skin, and the body flushes it away with sweat and urine. Drinking coffee causes your body to lose even more calcium, and if your diet doesn’t compensate for it, your body will eventually start taking calcium from your bones and teeth. This, in turn, can make your teeth brittle and cause your gums to be irritated.

3. It might increase bad cholesterol levels.

A piece of bread with a thick layer of butter might not be the healthiest food, but it tastes delicious, especially when enjoyed with coffee. But the habit of eating both almost at the same time can make your cholesterol skyrocket. Several studies have shown that oils found in coffee affect the body’s ability to regulate cholesterol, making our beloved beverage one of the most cholesterol-elevating compounds in our diet.

4. It’s not good for your hair.

Even if your diet is well-balanced and rich in all essential nutrients, the habit of drinking coffee directly after a meal could be sabotaging your efforts to eat healthy. Because, having a cup of Joe straight after a meal, cuts down the absorption of many important trace elements, it impacts your body in many ways, and can also affect your hair. When your body lacks iron, it’s harder for your blood to carry oxygen that repairs the cells in your body that stimulate hair growth. This, in turn, affects the health of your scalp, and might eventually lead to hair loss.

How many cups of coffee do you drink per day? Do you like to have your coffee before or after a meal?

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