microbiota Archives - usatoday24

Drinking coffee in the morning has very positive consequences for someone unexpected in your body: the microbiota

January 25, 2026 by usatoday24

For millions of people, the day doesn’t begin until the first cup of coffee hits their table. Something that makes a lot of sense because of how coffee affects our brain. so we can wake up and improve concentrationbut the reality is that it has many more effects further down the brain. We talk about the intestinewhere it passes and has a great involvement in the microbiota. The microbiota. There is more and more research that is focused on the microbiotathe bacteria we have in our digestive system and that have an increasingly relevant role in our daily lives. In this case, taking care of these bacteria inside us is a priority to be able to have good health, even to avoid major diseases. Now science is beginning to glimpse that Coffee is much more than a vehicle for caffeineand that has an important implication in the modulation of the intestinal microbiota. Beyond caffeine. We tend to think that coffee is nothing more than “caffeinated water”, unless you add a little sugar to remove its bitterness. But the reality is that we have a large ‘soup’ of bioactive compounds. Science is seeing how coffee is key due to its intestinal impact thanks to two of its components: polyphenols and dietary fiber. This is something that is currently being analyzed through studies. in the laboratory and in animal models where they have seen that a large part of these compounds reach the colon intact without digesting. There they act as ‘food’ for the bacteria that are there, such as dihydroferulic acid, which has local anti-inflammatory effects. That is, it acts like something similar to a prebiotic. The ‘planter’ effect. If we treat the intestine like a garden, coffee seems to work as a selective fertilizer. Although the evidence in humans is still heterogeneous, several patterns are repeated in the scientific literature, such as an intervention study in humans that showed that three cups of coffee daily for three weeks increased abundance of Bifidobacteriuma genre classically associated with intestinal health. But it does not stop there, since another large population metagenomic study associated the consumption of beverages rich in polyphenols such as coffee, tea or red wine with greater alpha diversity. This is something that within this world is associated with greater resilience and health in the microbiota. The recent discovery. Published in Nature in 2024science found a very specific association: those who regularly consume coffee have a much greater presence of the bacteria Lawsonibacter asaccharolyticu. A bacteria that is not just any bacteria, but helps digestion and also offers the colon the necessary elements for it to have much more energy and even prevents inflammation. That is why having this bacteria in large numbers in our intestine is actually very beneficial. Have metabolic health. Keeping the bacteria in our intestine ‘happy’ is essential as we have seen. The main hypothesis that supports all of this focuses on the ability of bacteria to ferment fiber and polyphenols of coffee producing short chain fatty acids such as butyrate. These compounds are the favorite fuel of colon cells and have systemic anti-inflammatory properties. This could explain, at least partially, why epidemiological studies often associate moderate coffee consumption with better metabolic and cardiovascular health. The small print. Before you rush for your fifth cup, you need to put on the brakes and look at the limitations of current studies, since not everything is rosy. And science, despite offering these benefits, indicates that robust clinical evidence is lacking. It must be taken into account here that not all coffees are the same, since soluble coffee, an espresso or using a filter in a coffee maker are not the same. And furthermore, not all people respond the same because each microbiota is literally a different world in each organism. Big tests are missing. Although in the laboratory and on paper everything may sound great, we must keep in mind that there are still many studies that demonstrate that coffee causes a direct improvement in diseases through the microbiota. And although coffee feeds your Bifidobacteria It does not eliminate the fact that excess caffeine causes insomnia, anxiety or tachycardia in sensitive people. Furthermore, the benefits observed in the microbiota are associated with black coffee or coffee with little milk. If your “coffee” is a smoothie loaded with sugar, cream and syrups, the negative impact of ultra-processed foods on your intestine will probably cancel out any benefits of polyphenols. Images | Nathan Dumlao CDC In Xataka | Having a cup of coffee as soon as you wake up seems like a great idea. Science has something to say about it

Years ago, microbiota transplants seemed like something out of science fiction. Today they are already curing diseases

November 16, 2025 by usatoday24

Sometimes extreme situations require extreme measures, at least in the field of medicine and health. Perhaps to many, the idea of microbiota transplants It seems to them that it belongs to this range of extreme measures. Perhaps more so if we refer to this therapy by its first and last name, because we are talking about fecal microbiota transplants. Let’s start at the beginning, explaining what exactly these transplants are. Although its name is quite descriptive. The central idea of this treatment is to take a sample of intestinal microbiota from a healthy person and transfer it to the patient’s intestine. For this, samples of fecal matter are used, feces from the donor that are treated for introduction into the recipient’s gastrointestinal system. The process begins, therefore, by taking a sample (or several) of the donor feces. First of all, it must be verified that these feces do not contain pathogens but that the “good bacteria” of our digestive system predominate in the sample. Once this filter has been passed, the sample is prepared in different ways depending on how it will be administered. One possibility is to dry, freeze and encapsulate part of these samples to administer them. through a pill. However, the most conventional options involve diluting the sample in saline water and then filter it and enter it into our system gastrointestinal, either through a tube introduced through the mouth or nose and that would reach our stomach; either through a colonoscopy, an endoscopy through the colon. Fixing the imbalance And all this, for what? Interestingly, if we are transplanting microbes from one person to another, the reason is to fight against a pathogenic bacteria, called Clostridioides difficile (C. diff). This is a bacteria that normally inhabits our system gastrointestinal without causing major discomfort. But not always. In these cases, C. diff It can take over the inside of our intestine, wreaking havoc on it. C. diff They feed on toxic compounds that they metabolize from some foods we consume and that can end up causing even more damage to our microbiota. This infection It is considered the main cause of diarrhea associated with medical treatments, but this It’s not your only symptom.These include fever, pain or tenderness in the stomach, loss of appetite and nausea, symptoms of gastroenteritis. Some more serious cases They can lead to dehydration, blood or pus in the stool, and kidney failure. One of the problems associated with this bacteria is the appearance of recurrent infections: many patients become ill again between two and eight weeks after the original infection. The potential of this tool is yet to be explored. A recent study, for example, explored the possibility of using this type of intervention to improve sports performance. A luck of “fecal doping” similar in some ways to existing techniques. Sport, and especially elite sport, can affect our microbiome, which in turn can be exploited in favor of the athletes themselves. These transplants have even been proposed in veterinary. Specifically, to help preserve koalas, as we saw in a studio also presented in 2019 in the magazine Animal Microbiome. Over the last few years we have been discovering new links between our gut microbiome and seemingly very distant aspects of our health. Now we even know that there is a connection between our brain and this one. Unfortunately, we still do not understand the causal relationships operating in this connection. In this sense, recently we came across a link between these transplants and autism. a study published in 2019 in the magazine Scientific Reports observed that symptoms linked to autism were reduced among those who had received this type of transplants. In Xataka | 50% of the population is infected with H. pylori. We are finally eradicating it and that has unexpected consequences Image | shameersrk / chriskeller

We knew that coffee was good for health, but now we have discovered that it is a great ally of our microbiota

September 21, 2025 by usatoday24

For years, coffee has not been too well considered. It depends on the place and the historical momentbut the culprit was not so much coffee itself … as caffeine. Although the evidence has managed to deny them, there is still A lot of myths about caffeine and its effects. But something that is also making clear research is beneficial effect of coffee on the body. It depends on the type of tan, of course. And one of the studies More recent links coffee with the intestinal microbiota. Directly, it favors the Bacteria growth in our body. And it is something that fulfills a vital function. The community Microbial of coffee. As we say, different studies on coffee allow you to have discovered your beneficial effects on cardiovascular diseasesthe diabetes or your Effect on the kidneys. In parallel, a relationship between coffee intake had been observed with the increase of certain intestinal bacteria, but the studies were on a small scale. Now, in Nature Microbiology he has Posted a study in which the genomic sequence of the intestinal microorganisms of more than 22,000 people in the United Kingdom and the United States was investigated. They have discovered that coffee drinkers had a different microbiota, with intestinal bacteria such as Lawsonibacter asaccharolyticus Eight times more abundant in the microbiota of coffee drinkers than in those who do not ingest this food. And what does that imply. It is not limited to that bacteria, since increases in irmicutes, actinobacteria, actinobacteria were also observed, PREVETELLA, Faecalibacterium and Bifidobacterium, All of them linked to beneficial metabolic effects, such as greater production of short chain fatty acids. What this means is that, thanks to its polyphenols and the soluble fiber it contains, coffee produces some Prebiotic effects that have a direct influence on beneficial bacterial growth. Before I said that it is something that fulfills a vital function, and in this case it is not an exaggeration. Intestinal microbiome bacteria They fulfill functions such as facilitating digestion, strengthening the immune system, regulating inflammation or protecting against pathogens and diseases. Very direct effects of this includes the production of vitamins and enzymes that are not obtained from food, facilitating Digestion of compounds as fiber and starch or Immune system regulation to distinguish between harmful and benign organisms. Four cups. Tim Spector is one of the experts who has supervised the article and, as my colleagues from Straight to the palatethe amount of optimal coffee would be between two and four cups a day. It all depends on the organism of each one and tolerance, but something interesting is that we not only obtain those benefits for the microbiota, but also a a large amount of fiber. Specifically, 1.5 grams of fiber for each cup of Filtrated coffee (There are many ways to prepare it, but filtered or infused is one of those that allows to extract more nutrients), and it is an amount similar to what would be obtained when eating a tangerine And the caffeine, what. And this of the tolerance that each one has to coffee is important because there is a “Limit” in the amount of caffeine That we can take up to be in the healthy segment, but it depends a lot on each person. The good thing is that these positive effects on microbiota have been reported both in the ‘normal’ coffee and in the decaffeinated. If milk is addedIn addition, the amount of polyphenols may slightly decrease, but the balance is still positive. What should not be added is sugarsince there we would be doing more bad than good. But if decaffeinated coffee is consumed, you should have an eye on how the process has been performed. Not all decaffeinated coffees are the same because there are several ways to eliminate (which is not completely eliminated, but is considerably reduced) caffeine, and Not all are equally healthy. To the point that some methods They are under the radar of organizations such as the US FDA. Image | Justin Bhalla In Xataka | There are more and more studies that link coffee with living more. And it is very easy to put the leg when preparing that ‘philosopher’ coffee

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