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Many of coffee’s health benefits can be traced back to caffeine. It has been linked to a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, can be beneficial to people living with asthma, and has even been linked to lower mortality rates.
So are decaf drinkers missing out? Not anymore. New research from Ireland found that coffee—caffeinated or not—can alter our gut biomes and “significantly” boost mood and reduce anxiety.
In the study, published in Nature Communications, scientists at University College Cork’s APC Microbiome Ireland research center explored coffee’s impact on the gut-brain axis. This axis is a communication network that sends signals between our gastrointestinal tract and the central nervous system.
Researchers followed 31 coffee drinkers and 31 non-coffee drinkers, who completed a series of psychological tests and caffeine intake diaries. Half the coffee drinkers were assigned caffeinated coffee, and the other half decaf. Both groups reported lower perceived stress and depression and improved mood.
In the analysis, the researchers found that coffee drinkers had higher levels of beneficial gut bacteria compared to those who didn’t drink coffee. This, the authors wrote, “suggest(s) a positive influence of coffee on gut health.” They also found that decaf drinkers reported notable improvements in learning and memory, while caffeinated coffee drinkers reported reduced anxiety.
“Coffee is more than just caffeine — it’s a complex dietary factor that interacts with our gut microbes, our metabolism, and even our emotional wellbeing,” Professor John Cryan, one of the authors, said in a press release. “Our findings suggest that coffee, whether caffeinated or decaffeinated, can influence health in distinct but complementary ways.”
Photo by Albert Salim on Unsplash
