A new study compared caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee and concluded that both have potential benefits for the gut, mood and behavior.
A new study, last week in Nature Communicationsrevealed that drinking coffee can improve your mood and increase your cognitive performance, even without the added stimulus of caffeine.
The investigation was led by scientists from University College Corkin Ireland, which compared some health markers and the perceived well-being of 31 coffee consumers, who drank three to five cups a day, with 31 participants who did not drink coffee.
At the start of the study, there were no differences between the two groups in terms of body mass index, blood pressure, stress, anxiety, depression, gastrointestinal symptoms, sleep quality or physical activity.
Os coffee consumers, however, showed distinct changes and some immune markers in the blood, as well as in some strains of microorganisms in the intestine.
As details, to see if caffeine is a necessary part of the equation, researchers had 31 coffee drinkers abstain from their daily cups for two weeks.
After the abstinence period, the intervention phase began. Participants reintroduced coffee into their diet, with 16 individuals drinking caffeinated coffee and 15 drinking decaffeinated coffee for three weeks. Participants did not know which coffee they were drinking.
“Both types of coffee reduced stress, depressionimpulsivity and inflammation, at the same time as increased mood and cognitive performance”, write the authors, cited by the aforementioned magazine.
However, only caffeinated coffee was associated with reduced anxietyfrom psychological suffering, blood pressure, to improved attention and the ability to deal with stress.
At baseline and after caffeine reintroduction, coffee drinkers also showed greater impulsivity and emotional reactivity than non-coffee drinkers.
The coffee decaffeinatedin turn, led to improvements in sleep, physical activity and memory.
The results suggest that caffeine may have specific effects on mood and cognition, but that Even decaffeinated coffee may still be linked to the gut-brain connection.
“Coffee is more than just caffeine – is a complex dietary factor that interacts with our intestinal microorganisms, our metabolism and even our emotional well-being”, says the microbiologist and corresponding author of the study, John Cryan.
“Our findings suggest that coffee, with or without caffeine, may influence health in distinct but complementary ways,” he added.
There is still a lot of research to be done, but there is already a body of evidence that demonstrates that, in some ways, coffee is beneficial for the body and mindbeing associated with reduced stress levels, improved mood and, possibly, relief from symptoms of depression.
Even the coffee decaf appears to improve cognitive function.
