It’s gut check time. By which I mean it’s time to examine the microbiome in your gut. And as with most things health-related, it turns out that drinking coffee is good for your gut microbiome, and one bacteria in particular.
As reported by Newsweek, the new study was published earlier this week in the journal Nature Microbiology. For it, researchers sought to examine how food contributes to the gut microbiome, the unique collection of bacteria, yeast, and fungi that live in the gastrointestinal tract and “are important for digestion, nutrient absorption, toilet habits, mental health, immunity, and more.” To that end, the researchers chose coffee to see how coffee affected the microbiome, as the drink is widely consumed, presumably healthy, and generally consumed on a binary: unlike other food and drinks, folks typically either drink coffee on a more or less daily basis or they don’t really drink it at all.
For the study, researchers examined data and dietary information from nearly 80,000 individuals in the UK and the US, they analyzed more then 400 plasma samples and 350 fecal samples, and they conducted two in-vitro experiments, all to better understand the interplay between coffee consumption and the gut microbiome.
They found that one bacteria strain in particular, Lawsonibacter asaccharolyticus, had a strong association with coffee consumption. Compared to folks who only drank three or less cups of coffee a month, individuals who consumed three or more cups of coffee daily had eight times the levels of L. asaccharolyticus in their gut, and in general, the more coffee one drank, the higher the presence of this bacteria. These results were found in participants in 25 different countries, and the bacteria responded similarly in a test tube when given coffee.
This study highlights just how fussy our microbes can be,” Dr. Tim Spector, scientific cofounder of ZOE and one of the study’s authors tells Newsweek. “This Lawsonibacter microbe hangs around in suspended animation, just waiting for a cup of coffee in order to flourish.”
Prior studies have found that coffee consumption contributes to a gut diversity, but with these new findings, researchers believe that this particular impact on the microbiome could be one of the reasons coffee has so many health benefits. Along with being antioxidant- and polyphenol-rich, the gut bacteria it promotes could “turn components in the coffee into other more beneficial compounds, with further health benefits.”
The study also points to a larger assertion about eating a variety of healthy foods that have a similar knock-on benefit of promoting a strong gut. It’s yet another reason I’m petitioning our new geared-up, Zyn-pounching health czar to once and for put coffee on the food pyramid. Stranger things have honestly happened (and are currently happening).
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
