How Coffee Might Be the BEST Thing for Your Microbiome

Coffee isn't just a morning pick-me-up anymore. It might be a microbiome wake-up call too. And this might be one way coffee exerts its many health benefits. Or at least that's the claim circulating around a brand new paper published in Nature Microbiology. I know, we all want this to be true. But is it? Well, I actually have great news for you, but you're gonna need to delay gratification just a little bit. Just like waiting for that delectable cup of brew at your favorite coffee shop. This video will reveal what the researchers discovered, but it's also going to be a broader masterclass on coffee. I'm going to tell you how much coffee to drink to get the health benefits. I'm going to compare caffeinated versus decaf. I'm going to answer common Q&As about polyphenols, mycotoxins, and much more. I hope you've had a cup or two already this morning because you'll need to focus for this one. Okay, let's get into it. First, coffee intake has already been associated with lower overall mortality, reduced cardiovascular disease-related death, and lower risk of type 2 diabetes, among many other positive health effects. But nutritional epidemiology, the study of diet and health in large populations, has its limitations because it only looks for correlations. To solidify coffee's health halo, what we want is a complementary biological mechanism—a physiological story that helps this all make sense. So, let's introduce the protagonist of this particular story: a gut bacterium named Lassonibacter asaccharolyticus. I know, I know, that sounds kind of like a Harry Potter spell, and me looking sort of like Daniel Radcliffe doesn't help. But while this Lassonibacter might not be magical, I do think the microbiome's governance of our health is just as amazing and mysterious, and hopefully I can convince you of that. Anyway, what the researchers did to discover this Lassana bacter asaccharolyticus coffee connection, coffee link, was take information they gathered from highly detailed food questionnaires, including data on over 150 specific foods associated with microbiome samples, and then look for connections between specific foods and microbiome signatures. And among the over 150 foods analyzed, coffee stood out for having the clearest microbiome signature. Now, for further analyses, the researchers broke up participants into 3 groups: the never drinkers, who consumed less than 3 cups per month, the moderate drinkers, who consumed more than this but fewer than 3 cups per day, and the high drinkers, who who consumed more than 3 cups per day. What group are you in? Anyway, the strongest correlation between coffee consumption and the microbiome was this Lasonibacter asaccharolyticus bug. And because I know you're wondering, and I was wondering when reading this paper as well, the association was independent of caffeine. So, high level, yes. In this case, decaf also counts. The researchers also showed that Lassana bacter asaccharolyticus is rare in newborns and young children and rare in samples from ancient populations. These groups, ancient populations and children, have low coffee intake, or at least they should. I hope you're not feeding your neonate coffee. And across nations, coffee consumption is also linked with Lassonibacter levels, reinforcing that the connection exists at both the individual and broad population levels. And finally, to hammer home the point, hammer home the connection, they finally showed that Lassonibacter asaccharolyticus grows better outside the body as well, in vitro, when fed coffee. So all these lines of evidence point to a model whereby coffee intake stimulates Lassonibacter asaccharolyticus growth in the human microbiome. Now, the next obvious question is, does Lassonibacter asaccharolyticus actually do anything? This question is actually quite difficult to answer, but one way to begin unraveling the mystery is to look for metabolites associated with coffee intake and associated with Lassonibacter abundance that are known to exert positive health effects. One such compound the researchers discovered was quinic acid. Quinic acid is a natural compound found both directly in coffee and also appears to be influenced by Lassonibacter asaccharolyticus levels. It's thought to contribute to coffee's perceived acidity and slightly sour, sharp quality, and although its metabolism is quite complex. Quinic acid metabolism is very complex. It undergoes many biotransformations by the gut. Literature shows that quinic acid and its derivatives, its metabolites, have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, which could provide a mechanistic basis for some of coffee's associated health benefits, including on the brain and on the cardiovascular system. Now, on these health benefits, because I know you want to know what they are, another landmark umbrella review of 201 observational studies, and some randomized controlled trials as well, found that coffee intake was associated with 17% reduced risk of all-cause mortality, 19% reduced risk of cardiovascular disease-related death, 15% reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, 18% lower risk of developing cancer, 30% reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and 36% reduced risk of Parkinson's disease. Pretty impressive. This umbrella review alone, it can't claim causation, but the consistency of the results and really impressive effect sizes across the board are encouraging. Oh, and the biggest effects, the most positive health benefits, were seen at the 3 to 4 cups of coffee per day. Now, since we will probably never have a 20 to 30 year randomized controlled trial on coffee, and before you say "I volunteer," bear in mind randomized does mean you could be placed in the coffee-restricted group for 2 to 3 decades. Still volunteering? I thought not. Anyway, sorry, tangent aside, what we need to do to piece this puzzle together, because we probably will never have that 20 to 30 year randomized controlled trial, is we need to to couple the large population data with biological rationale, mechanisms, as they were doing in this new research. So the connection between coffee, Lassonibacter asacryliticus, quinic acid, and other microbiome-derived metabolites, it could be part of elucidating, clarifying this picture. For example, one can imagine a scenario where quinic acid and its derivatives scavenge, gobble up harmful free radicals, reduce levels of inflammatory molecules like TNF-alpha or interleukin-1 beta, prevent LDL particle oxidation, and improve blood vessel function and circulation. Now, I'm not claiming this is all proven in humans beyond a shadow of a doubt. What I am saying is that the literature, the epidemiological population, and the mechanistic collectively, and rather consistently, point to the health benefits of coffee, with the greatest benefits seen at around 3 to 4 cups per day. Now, the research, it's still steaming hot, but it's already showing some strong results. So, coffee, it's good. Now, switching gears a little bit, here are my responses to some common question and answer. Question 1: What's healthier for you, A light roast or a dark roast? Answer: I think a light roast is healthier. Unroasted coffee, also called green coffee, is rich in chlorogenic acid, which we talked about a little bit more in this video. Go see that for more. Anyway, chlorogenic acid, it can improve glucose metabolism and actually maybe even reduce sugar intake. Lightly roasted coffee contains more of this compound and may have a health edge. But above the light vs. dark roast debate, I think having your coffee without added sugar and without artificial sweeteners is the most important thing to optimizing the net health benefits of your coffee. That's my opinion. Okay, question 2: Should you be worried about mold toxins, also called mycotoxins, in coffee? This is an area of controversy for sure. Personally, I don't think it's a huge concern. But it is a potential concern that I wouldn't sneeze at. Toxins like aflatoxin B1 and ochratoxin A can be found in some coffees and cause health problems, or potentially cause health problems in some people. Now, if you're worried about this, you can shop specifically for coffees that advertise they have been mycotoxin tested and are mycotoxin free. I'll reinforce that I'm not personally super worried about mycotoxins in my coffee, But you're of course entitled to select your beans based on your priorities. I'm also not read up on all the mycotoxin coffee literature. When I went to look last, there were almost 400 hits on PubMed for the combined terms mycotoxin and coffee, so it's obviously an area of interest. And maybe my opinion will change as I read more. That's how scientific opinion should evolve. Anyway, question 3: What coffee bean is the highest in polyphenols. There are two common types of coffee bean, Robusta and Arabica. Studies show that Robusta, also called Coffea canephora, has higher levels of polyphenols, and these levels of polyphenols decrease more when roasting. So, an unroasted or lightly roasted Robusta will probably be your highest polyphenol content coffee. Now, tell me in the comments what other questions or shareable knowledge do you have? And finally, because I do like to have fun, here are some coffee fast facts to wind us down that you can drop at your next dinner party. Okay, fast fact 1: the discovery of coffee. Legend has it that coffee was discovered in Ethiopia by a goat herder who noticed his goats became more energetic after eating the berries, or the cherries, of a particular plant. Turned out that was the coffee plant. Okay, fast fact 2: the most expensive coffee in the world is called Kopi Luwak. The main factor of its high price is the unusual method of production. It's produced from coffee beans which have been partially digested by the Indonesian palm civet cat and then excreted. Yes, it's expensive poop coffee. The civet cat eats the coffee cherry, within which is the bean, and the coffee cherry is fermented in the cat's intestines. Prices do vary, but wild-collected beans can be priced up to $1,300 per kilogram, and a single cup of Kopi Luwak can run you more than $50. Now, fast fact 3: globally, people consume around 2 billion cups of coffee per day, yes, 2 billion per day. And Finland takes the gold medal for the most coffee consumption per capita at about 22 to 26 pounds per person per year. And finally, fast fact 4: the current world record for the oldest cat was named Creme Puff. She lived to a ripe old age of 38 years and, get this, drank coffee every morning and had bacon and eggs as well. So this feline n 1, or I guess maybe n 9, is consistent with the data saying coffee is associated with lower mortality. Okay, now we're at the end. Was this fun? Did you learn something valuable from this video? Express-o yourself in the comments below and subscribe because science this strong doesn't need a filter. Stay curious, stay caffeinated, And finally, thank you from the bottom of my coffee-protected heart for engaging with me on this channel. Your presence, your curiosity, your enthusiasm mean more to me than you possibly could know. So, thank you. Sincerely, Nick Norwitz.