Coffee Study Finds Changes in Gut Activity; Your Daily Cup Coffee Examined
Researchers at the University of Copenhagen found that people who drank one to five cups of coffee more than three days a week had higher acidity in the small intestine and more colon contractions. The nine-day study tracked more than 60 adults, but researchers said further work is needed to understand the effects.
Researchers at the University of Copenhagen found that adults who drank one to five cups of coffee more than three days a week had higher acidity in the small intestine and more contractions in the colon, findings that may help explain how your daily cup coffee affects digestion.
The nine-day study included more than 60 adults. Researchers said they still need more evidence to determine what the changes mean for gut health.
“Contractions in the gut can support healthy digestion, help prevent constipation and keep the intestinal muscles in good condition,” Francesca Bucci, a PhD student and study author, said in a statement.
Bucci and her colleagues said they do not yet know whether the higher acidity levels are beneficial or harmful. Acidity, also known as pH, plays a role in how the body breaks down food.
The researchers also have not established whether coffee alone caused the observed changes. Henrik Munch Roager, an associate professor, said earlier research offers reasons to suspect a link.
“For example, we already know from other studies that coffee can influence a range of processes in the digestive system, including acid secretion in the stomach. So there are good reasons to believe that what we are seeing is not merely coincidence,” Roager said.
Fifty participants swallowed a wireless sensor that measured acidity, temperature, pressure, transit time and intestinal contractions. The other participants were included in the study, which also monitored diet and biological samples.
Participants recorded what they ate and drank over eight days and provided daily stool and urine samples. Researchers analyzed gut bacteria and measured coffee-related indicators in the body, including caffeine metabolites.
The findings also confirmed results from 2024 research at the University of Texas Medical Branch, which found that coffee positively affects the balance and diversity of gut bacteria. Experts at Louisiana State University say a diverse gut is more flexible and able to fight different pathogens.
The study authors said further research should compare gut function during periods of high coffee consumption with periods without coffee. They said the findings could inform future approaches to constipation, which affects 16 percent of adults and a third of people aged 60 and older, according to the National Institute of Health.
“If we can understand how coffee affects digestion and intestinal contractions, it may be possible to use that knowledge to stimulate gut motility in a natural way,” Roager said. “That would be extremely valuable.”
