Ahh coffee. It makes us better at our jobs, keeps us regular and tastes delicious. And yet, so many people think that quitting coffee is the key to better health. In reality, coffee is probably the ultimate gut health drink. Like kafir and kombucha, it’s fermented (hence the tangy taste), and as with most gut heroes, it’s full of fibre and polyphenols (helpful plant chemicals that fight free radicals).

As such, it’s been linked to a wide range of health benefits. Study after study has reported the epic health benefits of the drink, from extending our lives to making us more active and reducing the risk of hip fractures in women. Dr Federica Amati from Zoe also flags that “coffee drinking is associated with a reduced risk of heart disease, hypertension, colon cancer and type 2 diabetes” - diseases that “are likely to be mediated, at least in part, by the microbiome”. 

And one of the reasons that it might be so powerful is the fact that we have a particular bug in our microbiomes that is only activated by coffee: prevotella abundance. That bacteria, Dr Amati explains, “is linked to several changes, including increased diversity and abundance of good bacteria”.

Interestingly, it’s activated whether you drink caffeinated or decaf coffee – so if you’re someone who avoids the black stuff for fear of an uncontrolled caffeine buzz or have tried to cut down on caffeine, you can still reap the huge health benefits.  

Previous Zoe research has found coffee drinkers tended to have higher microbiome diversity than non-coffee drinkers. They’ve also concluded that the gut benefits are also dose-dependent, meaning the more coffee your drink, the more diverse your microbiome.

That Zoe study also found that coffee drinkers are also more likely to have ‘Freddy’ (F. Bacterium CAG.95) in their gut – one of the key 15 good gut bugs that are linked to healthier blood sugar and fat responses after eating.

The benefits also come from coffee’s polyphenols which “can help reduce the presence of harmful microbes, making room for ‘good’ bacteria and helping them flourish – rocket fuel for your microbes,” Zoe’s Dr Tim Spector previously mentioned on Instagram.

Surprisingly, the benefits could also come from the fact that coffee contains fibre. The fibre in the coffee beans has been shown to pass into the drink, with 100ml of the drink containing between 0.46 and 0.75g of the stuff. 

It may sound like a small dose, but Dr Spector explained that “if you’re drinking the US average of 3.2 cups a day this could add up to as much as 5g of fibre per day”. Given that most adults only eat 18g of the recommended 30g of fibre a day, according to the NHS, an extra 5g in your coffee could make a huge difference.

Another study also found that the fibre from coffee ferments to produce beneficial short-chain fatty acids and increases the quantity of some bacteria by up to 60% within 24 hours of drinking. 

In a nut-shell, all coffee is good coffee – but certain types of coffee contain more specific nutrients than others:

• Roast coffee is shown to have higher levels of polyphenols
• Adding milk could make polyphenols in coffee less bio-available
• All types of coffee have been shown to contain some fibre, but freeze-dried contains the most
• The health benefits are also associated with decaf

And all of this correlates to a previous large scale study which found that up to three cups of coffee a day – ground, instant or decaf – reduces our risk of cardiovascular disease. It went on to find that those who drank any amount of unsweetened coffee were up to 29% less likely to die than those who don’t drink coffee at all. While caffeinated ground coffee scored highest, decaf was still associated with a 14% reduced risk of death over a 12.5 year period. 

Of course, if you hate the taste of coffee then there are other ways to be gut healthy. Focus on eating your 30 plants a week, load up on other forms of fermented foods and watch how much alcohol you’re drinking.

For tips on moving well and healthy recipes to support your fitness regime, check out the Strong Women Training Club.

Images: Getty