Gut bacteria may sound like something you want nothing to do with, but a healthy gut filled with beneficial bacteria can have knock-on effects throughout the rest of the body. According to a new study from the University of Copenhagen, it turns out that regular coffee drinkers seem to have altered gut bacteria, and that the coffee might also be altering the physical makeup of the gut itself.
For the study, published in the journal Gut Microbiology, 61 healthy Danish adults swallowed an electronic “SmartPill.” This tiny wireless capsule recorded the pressure, acidity, and muscle contractions inside their guts while they logged everything they ate and drank over nine days. Researchers then cross-referenced that physical data with stool and urine samples.
The study confirmed what everyone who drinks coffee already knows: it makes you want to poop real bad, effectively turning your guts into a water slide. Higher caffeine levels were directly associated with more muscle contractions in the colon, which helps explain why someone who’s had a cup of coffee will soon be sprinting to the nearest toilet and will be of mysteriously absent for about 20 minutes.
What Drinking Coffee Every Morning Could Be Doing to Your Gut
Frequent coffee drinkers (defined by the researchers as people who averaged around 12 ounces a day) had a wider, more diverse set of gut bacteria than people who rarely drank coffee. Three specific groups of bacteria, including Lawsonibacter, were found in much larger amounts among the daily coffee drinkers.
The researchers also found that the frequent drinkers had a significantly more acidic small intestine. While the capsule recorded the lower pH level, the researchers don’t actually know why coffee shifts the acidity, or whether that acid is ultimately good or bad for you. Coffee may indirectly change gut bacteria by altering the environment they live in.
The study was small and observational, so scientists can’t definitively prove that coffee causes these exact internal changes, but the researchers hope future studies will uncover the mechanics behind how coffee alters your poop schedule.
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