Coffee for a long time followed the cliché "less is better," and nutritionists looked at it as a necessary evil. Now the situation is changing - not for every type, but for one. Naturally roasted coffee (café natural), according to integrative nutritionist Elisa Blasques, can bring real health benefits when consumed in moderation - meaning up to 4-5 cups a day.

The key distinction is between natural and torrefacto coffee. The latter is produced by adding sugar during roasting, which caramelizes at high temperatures and creates compounds with potentially irritating effects. "Torrefacto coffee often has a more bitter taste and is frequently used to mask lower quality," says Blasques. The label should say "natural coffee" or "blend" - when it says blend, it means combined.

What are the benefits of natural coffee? It's a "very rich source of polyphenols and antioxidants," says the nutritionist. It's linked to reduced cardiovascular risk, metabolic risk and neurodegenerative risk - not as a cure, but as a contribution in the context of normal diet and sleep. The key sentence: "No food is good or bad in isolation from its context."

Still, if coffee is your only crutch for functioning - that's a sign of something else. "When a person needs coffee to function, it's usually a sign that the body is exhausted," Blasques adds. Coffee gives instant energy, but it doesn't solve the cause of the exhaustion. And that most often comes from poor sleep, chronic stress, nutritional deficits or metabolic problems. In other words - three cups in the morning is a solution only if the cause of fatigue is lack of caffeine. If it isn't - coffee is a traffic sign, not a cure.