Coffee drinking habits greatly affect the intestinal microflora

An international team of medical researchers has found that people who regularly drink coffee have much higher levels of a certain type of gut bacteria than those who don't.

Coffee is consumed by many people - Photo: Reuters

Nathan McNulty and Jeffrey Gordon of the University of Washington School of Medicine wrote a piece in News & Views detailing the research process.

The link between coffee and gut microbiota

According to Medical Xpress , in a paper published in the journal Nature Microbiology , the research team analyzed stool and blood samples from a large number of patients, and studied similar data in large medical databases to find out the impact of coffee drinking on the gut microbiome.

Previous studies have shown that food and beverage consumption affects the gut microbiome, which is the community of fungi, yeasts and bacteria that live in the human digestive tract. However, which foods benefit this microbiome and which foods harm it is not well understood.

In the new study, the team looked at the effects of a single food, or in this case, a beverage, on the gut microbiome. They chose coffee for two reasons. First, it’s widely consumed. Second, coffee is often consumed daily or not at all.

Foods or drinks that significantly impact the gut microbiome

To investigate the effects of coffee drinking on gut microbiota, the researchers began by analyzing medical data from about 22,800 people living in the UK and US, along with data from 54,200 people in 211 study groups.

This allowed them to compare stool sample data from those who reported drinking coffee and those who did not, and explore differences in gut microbiota between the two groups.

The researchers found one big difference between the two groups—the amount of the bacteria Lawsonibacter asaccharolyticus . Regular coffee drinkers had eight times more of this bacteria than non-coffee drinkers, and this difference was consistent across the globe.

The team admits that they don't yet know what effect high levels of L. asaccharolyticus have on humans, but suggest that it may be related to the health benefits already noted in coffee drinkers.

They also suggest that single foods or beverages can have a significant impact on the human gut microbiota.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thoi-quen-uong-ca-phe-anh-huong-lon-den-he-vi-sinh-duong-ruot-20241125143801024.htm