[0:00] Welcome, my name is Dr. Warrick Bishop. I'm a cardiologist, an author and a keynote speaker. I'm CEO of the Healthy Heart Network. I'm all about trying to help people [0:12] Live as well as possible. [0:13] For as long as possible. [0:15] Heart disease is huge in Australia. [0:18] Every 20 minutes someone suffers a heart attack. Most of these could probably have been avoided if only we knew what to do. [0:26] This podcast is all about helping you understand blood pressure, weight, cholesterol, [0:32] For better health. [0:33] If you enjoy this podcast, I would be honored for a 5 star review. [0:37] You can share it with your family and friends. It may well save. [0:41] Someone you love. [0:42] Hi, have you wondered about your morning cup of coffee? Or two? Or even three and thought, is this doing me good? [0:51] "Bad. I know it feels great." [0:54] Buh. [0:55] How is it impacting my health? [0:58] I've got an interesting one for you. I am a sworn coffee drinker. I love my [1:03] Couple of cups of coffee in the morning. I'll have, normally have a shot at about [1:08] Well, seven-ish. [1:10] And then I'll have another one about nine, maybe ten, and uh, [1:15] Sometimes I'll even go third. Rarely do I have them passed about midday because they impact [1:22] My sleeping. [1:24] I don't know about you, I'm not sure what your habit is. My name is Dr. Warrick Bishop and welcome to my podcast and videocast station and today I'm going to talk about coffee. [1:34] You can figure out how much you're going to drink, but what I'm going to talk about is [1:38] Coffee and the gut. And I think this is a really important topic for those who are listening. [1:45] I do plan to show some, [1:51] Thank you. [1:51] Um, [1:53] Images here, I've got a slide deck. So if you wanted to see this on YouTube, [1:59] You can, but I'll try and describe it so if you are listening, you won't be missing out to be honest. [2:08] If you are watching it on YouTube, that's great. I'd love you to subscribe and share if you think it's valuable. So, [2:15] Without any further ado, I'm going to share a screen and we're going to [2:20] Get into coffee and the gut microbiome. [2:25] Um. [2:27] We're going to entitle today's talk, "Coffee in your gut, what's really brewing?" which is a nice play on words. [2:37] We do know that there's some links between coffee in the gut and most people who enjoy a coffee in the morning will probably have observed that there's a little bit of a [2:51] Relationship between having your morning coffee and having a regular nature call in the morning. Now, that's often been called the gastrocolic reflex where a stimulus changes. [3:05] Within the [3:07] Stomach, gastro, gives rise to a response in the colon. [3:13] Coleg. Gastro-coleg reflex. So you drink your cup of coffee or have something to eat in the morning, there's a bit of a stretch, a bit of a... [3:21] A signal in the stomach that's transmitted to the colon and [3:28] Well. [3:29] There's a nature core, a number two indeed. So this is often been thought to be [3:38] A very simple mechanical process, but it seems like it's more than that because some research has started to show that patients who drank coffee after gastrointestinal surgery [3:48] Recovered their bowel function sooner than those who did not, and [3:53] Interestingly, when they then [3:56] "Added caffeine into the mix and tested caffeine, it seemed that caffeine alone did not produce the same benefits. So it's not a caffeine... [4:04] Stimulus that causes that. [4:07] And really, really interesting, some preclinical workers looked at caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee, and they both seemed to stimulate contraction in the gut. [4:18] In the colon. And that points us away from caffeine being central. So caffeine will [4:25] Fire up you all. [4:27] Mind obviously, might keep you awake at night, give you a little bit of a buzz. [4:33] But it's not going to... [4:34] Affect your bowel habit. [4:39] Interestingly, a study looking at 54,000 people with stool samples analyzed alongside dietary data looked at this question in more detail. And that's where this is coming from. And it turns out that what seems to be driving this [4:56] Uh, coffee, [4:57] A large bowel, passing feces effect is related to a number of things. [5:07] Know that polyphenols that are [5:11] Kompounds that are found in plant matter, polyphenols found in plant matter, these can reach the colon. [5:22] Chlorogenic acid derivatives in particular, [5:27] Kahn, which are found in coffee, can travel to the colon where the gut breaks them down into [5:33] "Active compounds that then can have a local effect." "So..." [5:38] Um. [5:40] Chlorogenic acid derivatives. [5:44] Found in coffee. So polyphenols, these are things that are found in coffee. [5:48] Different. [5:55] Melanoidins from the roasting process. So melanoidins are also compounds that come from [6:03] Uh, [6:05] Plaint products in this situation from coffee bean roast, these are apparently partly fermentable and may act as a prebiotic, [6:14] Feeding. [6:15] Are beneficial gut bacteria. So polyphenols, melanoidins, [6:22] Both playing into what may be occurring in the gut and both potentially being beneficial, with some research pointing to a more favorable bacterial mix overall in people who drink coffee. A study in 2024 showed that moderate coffee drinkers tend to have more bifidobacterium, a so-called preferred bifidobacterium, [6:45] Bug in the microbiome compared to Enterobacteriaceae, a less desirable. [6:53] Bugg in the gut. And these people who drank coffee also had a greater [6:58] I could buy him. And micro. [7:04] Bye. [7:05] "Diviv|ersity, which is also a really good thing for the gut." [7:10] Coffee? [7:12] Providing. [7:13] A local chemical stimulus and providing fodder or food for your preferred gut microbiome. [7:20] I. [7:21] Coffee may also talk to your brain through your gut. Now this is really interesting. [7:27] Distinct microbiome profiles in regular coffee drinkers point to that the microbiome metabolites may be [7:38] B in. [7:39] I may be involved in some of the gut and central nervous system communication. [7:47] These changes are sort of quite interesting, almost suggesting a [7:53] If you like an indirect mechanism where coffee through an alteration in gut microbiome has an impact on brain function. [8:02] Uhh. [8:03] This same effect again held with decaf. So caffeine is not part of that mix. It's those other components. The components from roasting the coffee. Or the components from the polyphenons. [8:16] And these shifts also changed when coffee was stopped. So really interesting space looking at how microbiome [8:26] Mechatolites? [8:28] As a result of coffee consumption can impact the central nervous system. [8:34] :P [8:36] "Is all coffee good? Well, I've told you that I do about." [8:39] Two cups most days, occasionally three cups. It has been suggested or it has been observed that five cups a day can be linked with an increased risk of a [8:51] Assofagy, gastroesophageal reflux disease and even Crohn's disease. So it can be a little bit of a problem. [8:58] Yeah. [9:00] A 2025 population-based study linked excessive caffeine intake, and again that would be over five or six cups a day, to chronic constipation, [9:09] Which is almost the opposite of what people might expect and certainly what I've told you from moderate coffee consumption, two, three coffees, four coffees a day. [9:19] So, [9:20] Where does it fit? Coffee may suit people prone to functional constipation while not being [9:28] are well tolerated by people who are living with irritable bowel syndrome. [9:33] So takeaways for you, like a takeaway coffee, [9:37] Coffee's effect on your gut goes beyond caffeine. It's not just a caffeine effect, it's polyphenols, it's the compounds from roasting that seem to interact directly with the gut microbiome. This is really fascinating. [9:50] Regular coffee drinkers do seem to show [9:54] More favorable bacterial mix and greater diversity. But there's no guidelines around this at the moment, but certainly interesting information. And that piece about people recovering from gastrointestinal surgery is fascinating. [10:10] . [10:10] More than five cups a day seems to carry a downside. [10:14] And pay attention to how you respond yourself. You may notice that one or two cups a day might work really well for you. [10:23] Four cups might be way too much. [10:26] And it might even impact your sleep. I think if you're drinking coffee after midday, and certainly if you're drinking coffee after three in the afternoon, there's a good chance there'll be some caffeine in the bloodstream when you try to go to bed, and that may well keep you alive. [10:41] So I hope you've enjoyed our quick take on coffee. [10:47] If you have any queries or questions, drop us a note at info@drawickbishop.online. [10:56] If you've enjoyed this, I'd love you to share it and subscribe if you wouldn't mind and... [11:02] 40. [11:03] I'm not sure it'll be next week, but sometime pretty soon I'm going to do cancer, reoccurrence, and just touch on that. So if you'd like to listen, [11:11] Make sure you, well, [11:13] Stay in touch, subscribe and listen in. For now, I am going to wish you the very best. I do hope you live as well as possible for as long as possible. Take care. [11:21] And bye for now. [11:22] Hi. Ever wondered what your risk of heart attack is? You should. It's the single biggest killer in the western world. We're talking one death. [11:33] Less than every 30 minutes in Australia, one death, [11:36] Less than every 60 seconds in the United States, 9% [11:41] Million deaths globally. [11:43] Well, how do you check your risk? Well, you can go to [11:49] www.virtualheartcheck.com.au. You'll find out about your risk and what can be done beyond that to be even more precise.