Milk protein can also undercut the benefits of tea,285 berries,286 and chocolate.287 What about soymilk? In a test tube, phytonutrients in coffee not only bind to proteins in dairy but also in eggs and soy.288 Eggs haven’t been put to the test yet in humans, so the jury’s still out on whether having an omelet with black coffee would impair absorption, but soy appears to have been given the all-clear. Soy proteins initially bind up the coffee compounds in the small intestine, but our good bacteria release them so they can be absorbed down in the lower intestine.289 Other nondairy milks, such as
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