Hot drink favourite can help with blood pressure and stop heart disease, says Professor Tim Spector
Tim Spector, founder of the Zoe health app, has some good news for coffee lovers
Tim Spector, a nutritional scientist, has just served up some great news for coffee enthusiasts, highlighting that our beloved brew can significantly affect heart disease and inflammation, and might even help to improve blood pressure. The King's College London professor and Zoe health app co-founder spilled the beans on his Instagram, suggesting that java could be a boon for gut microbe health.
The world of dietary science is abuzz with the potential perks of maintaining a healthy gut, with mounting evidence suggesting our overall wellbeing hinges on a balanced diet. Prof Spector revealed: "Coffee drinking can be predicted by your microbes, so we all have a particular microbe that only eats coffee."
He continued, shedding light on the picky nature of our gut inhabitants: "It's called Lawsinobacter and just gives you an idea of what's going on inside your gut. They're very specific, very fussy eaters, so you've got to give them exactly what they want. And it turns out that drinking coffee is actually really good for you. Reduces your risk of heart disease by a third. That's good news for coffee lovers, but again, it's probably due to the microbes eating your coffee and producing healthy chemicals."
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The doctor has previously defended a beverage that's often 'demonised' due to its immediate effects on heart rate and blood pressure. He explained that coffee is chock-full of essential nutrients and even a surprising amount of fibre, and studies have indicated it could slash the risk of heart attacks by 25%.
Prof Spector also revealed he's currently working on a scientific paper exploring the relationship between coffee and gut health, and how this interaction can help lower our blood pressure and blood sugar levels, reports Gloucestershire Live.
He stated: "What are the health benefits? One of the key things in coffee. It's a complex area, but I think we're suddenly putting it together from a drink that was demonised as being very harmful to us to something that actually could be beneficial. Coffee is this fermented plant that has microbes acting on.
"It has hundreds, not thousands, of chemicals produced from it. There's range of polyphenols that are enhanced by the microbes as they ferment it. And those have direct effects on our body, and some of them can reduce blood sugar and reduce stress and actually reduce blood pressure. And the studies have now clearly shown that you get nearly as much benefit on the heart with decaffeinated coffee.
"Coffee is a health food, and we should all be drinking at least three cups a day, according to the latest science. And it doesn't matter if you don't want caffeine, just have decaf. It's probably just as healthy.
"In fact studies have shown that moderate coffee intake - about two to five cups a day - is linked to a lower likelihood of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, liver and endometrial cancers, Parkinson's disease, and depression. It's even possible that people who drink coffee can reduce their risk of early death."
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