If you are like one of the millions of Americans that take probiotics each day, you need to know how and when to take them.1
But did you know that your morning cup of coffee or tea might be interfering with your probiotic’s overall effectiveness? The higher temperatures of these beverages can kill off the beneficial bacteria in probiotics before they have a chance to take root.
It’s a controversial topic, though, so here, we dive into everything that you need to know, along with a recommendation on how long you should wait to drink your morning cup of coffee or tea after taking your probiotic. Best practice is to take your probiotic on an empty stomach and then wait about 30 minutes before eating a meal or drinking coffee or tea.
Can You Take Your Probiotic With Coffee?
There’s conflicting information out there about this, but there’s one thing that everyone can agree on: You should not wash down your probiotic with your morning cup of coffee.
If the coffee is too hot, it can kill all the beneficial bacteria in the probiotic, rendering it useless.
How Long Should You Wait for Your Morning Cup of Coffee?
There’s a great deal of debate on how long you should wait before consuming your morning cup of coffee or tea after taking a probiotic.
Rob Hobson, a nutritionist, says that you shouldn’t drink your morning cup until at least 30 minutes after you take your probiotic. It is all about giving the probiotic time to settle in your stomach before potentially dousing it with a hot liquid.
But according to the Probiotics Learning Lab by Optibac Probiotics, you don’t have to wait to drink your coffee or tea after taking your probiotic. Since you have to wait until your coffee or tea cools down before you drink it, there’s no reason that you can’t drink it right away.
Both sides agree that you shouldn’t wash down the probiotic with a hot cup of coffee or tea, though. They also agree that you should take your probiotic on an empty stomach and wait about 30 minutes before chowing down on a meal.
Should You Take Your Probiotic in the Morning or at Night?
The experts agree that you should take your probiotic in the morning, right after you wake up and before you eat anything.
But Healthline notes that the most important thing when taking a probiotic is consistency. If you don’t get up at the same time every day, it might be better to take it at a different time.
It’s all about getting into a routine and sticking with it. For the best possible results, take it around the same time every day, which for most people, is first thing in the morning.
How Do You Know If Your Probiotic Is Working?
If you’re trying to determine if your morning cup of joe or tea is frying the bacteria in the probiotic that you’re taking, the best way is to see if your probiotic is still working.
The most common sign that a probiotic is working is improvement in digestive health. According to WebMD, probiotics can help with symptoms of IBS, IBD, infectious diarrhea, and antibiotic diarrhea.
Unfortunately, it can take a while to see results, so you might not know if it’s causing a problem until after a few weeks have gone by, and that’s more time that you’ll need to deal with uncomfortable symptoms.
Final Thoughts
While current science is unclear on how long you should wait between your probiotic and a cup of coffee, we recommend playing it safe and waiting at least 30 minutes before your first cup of morning coffee or tea.
That way, you know that there’s nothing conflicting going on. Even if it’s completely fine, it can be a struggle to know for sure, and it’s simply not worth the risk.
Featured Image Credit: Helena Nechaeva, Shutterstock
