Hey, all,

How long should I wait after taking vitamins with my meals before I drink coffee? I like to have a mug of coffee with my lunch and dinner, but I also take vitamins with each of those meals, and I'm a bit worried that coffee can impact on the absorbtion of vitamins? Or is this just a myth?

Thanks!

I usually have my coffee an hour or so before taking my vitamins, and I only drink a cup to a cup and a half in the morning. I never really thought about the combo much. I think drinking coffee kind of rushes everything through the digestive system, so maybe the vitamins would be a little less effective. Here's a similar thread from the past. Coffee with vitamins?

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Thanks, for the reply

I think I just have to decide whether to leave coffee until an hour after my meal, or have coffee as usual, and take the vitamins an hour later. Problem with that is it says take ''preferably with meals'', so obviously that would be better.

Stopping coffee is not an option

Thanks, again.

Food contains enzymes. Vitamins are co-enzymes. Hence, better with food. They work together. It does not matter with the water soluble vitamins like C and B.

Tannins are the problem when consuming with food. Tannins are good for you. However they don't help with bio-absorption and they can make you dry (constipation, dry skin). Tea and coffee both contain tannin and should be drunk between meals, not with. That includes ice tea that so many like to have with meals. Walnuts, pecans, and hazelnuts contain a lot of tannins too. And several herbs. Tannin interferes with iron absorption among oher things. It is just a matter of balance. Many plants contain tannin, but it is not so much to interfere with nutrition of the meal.

As an aside, according to ayurveda, coffee drinking makes the semen very thin, which causes early ejaculation and involuntary night discharge. It decreases reproducing power of both sexes.

I love coffee and tea, more so tea. But I limit myself to to cups/mugs. I drink a lot of water per day, about 3 quarts.

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- Jim

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving." - Albert Einstein

I grew up drinking coffee even as a child and still love the smell of coffee. It's been months since I've drank coffee, but I've left coffee and moved to green tea. I've noticed a lot of health benefits since I stopped drinking coffee and I would only drink black coffee with no milk or any type of sweetener, because I truly enjoyed coffee.

My culture drinks a lot of coffee and where I'm originally from we export more coffee any anywhere else in the world. My wife was also a big coffee drinker, being from a Caribbean island that coffee is a huge part of her culture.
We've both switched to green tea and it took probably two months or more until we saw the health benefits. The biggest issue is that most of the green tea in the USA is garbage, so originally I always thought green tea just didnt' taste good.

Wow I didn't even know coffee could affect the absorption of vitamins. This is good to know. Thanks for bringing it up. Now I'm gonna wait a few after drinking coffee with breakfast, before taking my vitamins...

I'm going on now 5 months from changing coffee to tea and I've seen nothing but health benefits. I'm more relaxed with less anxiety and I feel I can concentrate in the morning without having any type of crash throughout the day. I'm not sure if it's coincidence, but I have lost weight as well. I used to only drink black coffee with nothing added on a regular bases.

Only negatives is that the majority of green teas sold in the USA are horrible, so I never really enjoyed green tea until getting some good quality teas. Once I found better qualities teas it was easier for me to leave coffee.
My wife left coffee as well for months now and just yesterday she had coffee and told me she regretted it. She had a stressful day and felt more anxiety than she ever remembers having.

Another negative thing with tea is the iron absorption. Tea can cause issues with iron, which if you have an iron issue you have to watch how your consuming it. It's best to consume between meals, which is what I do.

I now drink 4 cups of green tea in the morning when I get to work, which is at least an hour or more in between meals. One of the best changes I've made to my diet.

When I travel to countries that coffee is king, I have to admit I'll drink it during those periods, but not on a regular bases when I'm home.