Treat Arthritis: Add This to Your Coffee

Polyphenols that appear in coffee can reduce inflammation, which is why some studies have found that coffee can reduce arthritis symptoms.

A new study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry shows that it works twice as well if you add another common ingredient to your coffee.

Best of all, this additional ingredient is dirt cheap and available in all supermarkets.

Caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid are natural substances found in plants and plant-based foods and drinks. One of the most common sources of both is coffee. Researchers have demonstrated both to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

Arthritis is one of many diseases characterized by severe inflammation. Inflammation happens when our immune systems dispatch lots of white blood cells and other chemicals to a location of apparent injury or invasion by a foreign substance.

Accordingly, one good way to treat arthritis is to reduce your immune system’s dispatch of cells to your joints, as this will remove much of the inflammation. Substances that fight off oxidative damage, called antioxidants, can convince your immune system to slow down.

This is where caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid are great, as they can reduce oxidative damage and fight off inflammation.

The authors of this new study wanted to find out how these two polyphenols combined with other chemicals and what the effects of the combination would be.

One of the first chemicals they decided to test was an amino acid called cysteine. Cysteine is present in nearly all proteins and is known to be an antioxidant.

To test a blend of caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, and cysteine, they artificially stimulated inflammation in immune cells in the laboratory.

They then provided some cells with the polyphenols alone, others with the polyphenols mixed with cysteine, and a third group of cells with nothing.

Can you guess what they found?

The cells treated with the combination of polyphenols and amino acids were twice as effective at fighting inflammation as those treated with polyphenols alone.

Since this study was done in the laboratory instead of on people, we cannot assume that this finding will translate into the real world. If it does, then the researchers are onto something great.

It may mean mixing caffeic and chlorogenic acids with cysteine doubles the anti-inflammatory power. Since many fruits and vegetables contain these polyphenols and almost all proteins contain cysteine, this is very easy.

Caffeic acid is present in coffee, tea, wine, grapes, plums, Kiwis, apples, berries, broccoli, spinach, cauliflower, carrots, lettuce, almonds, sunflower seeds, thyme, and basil.

Chlorogenic acid is abundant in coffee, tea, apples, pears, berries, eggplant, potatoes, sage, and thyme.

Cysteine is present in dairy, eggs, meat, poultry, fish, and legumes.

As such, drinking a cup of coffee with milk is an ideal way to reduce your arthritis symptoms, if this study is correct.

However, coffee (even with milk) cannot cure arthritis. You need to take a few more natural steps explained here…