Field notes
As of Oct 2026 · 4 studies · newest 2024 Coffee
New: Manghi 2024, 22,867 people
01
The short version
Coffee drinkers' gut microbes differ in a few specific ways, most clearly in one microbe, Lawsonibacter asaccharolyticus, which is higher in people who drink more coffee in the UK and the US. Nobody has yet tested whether drinking coffee changes it, or whether it matters for health.
02
What studies have seen
Each line is one finding. The word says how many separate groups of people showed it.
Lawsonibacter asaccharolyticus is higher in people who drink more coffee.
5 of 5 cohorts · 22,867 people · UK, US Manghi 2024Asnicar 2021 These studies used some of the same people, so they count once, not twice.More kinds of gut microbes in people who drink more coffee.
2 of 2 cohorts · 24,002 people · Netherlands, UK, US Zhernakova 2016Manghi 2024 More coffee drinkers carry Lawsonibacter asaccharolyticus: 87.8% of people who never drink coffee, 95.6% of moderate drinkers and 97.7% of heavy drinkers, in 9,210 people in the US.
2 cohorts pooled · 9,210 people · US Manghi 2024 Lawsonibacter asaccharolyticus is also higher in people who drink more decaffeinated coffee.
2 cohorts pooled · 6,089 people · UK Manghi 2024Of more than 150 foods, coffee was the one most tied to people's gut microbes.
2 studies that share cohorts · UK, US Manghi 2024Asnicar 2021 These studies used some of the same people, so they count once, not twice.
Oscillibacter is higher in people who drink more coffee, in 1,425 adults, 554 of them with a gut condition.
2 cohorts pooled · 1,425 people · Netherlands Bolte 2021A difference is an association: it doesn't mean coffee changes these microbes, or that they affect health. Each person was measured once.
03
Ideas being tested
What researchers think might explain it, and how far each idea has been tested.Idea · The authors suggest
The authors suggest that this microbe may use compounds in coffee. In a lab test, coffee added to its growth medium made it grow more, and quinic acid, a coffee compound, was higher in coffee drinkers' blood.
How far it’s been tested ProposedIn a dishIn animalsSeen in peopleTested in a trial Manghi 202404
What nobody knows yet
Open questions, as the studies leave them.- Q1Whether drinking more coffee changes this microbe: these studies measured each person once.
- Q2Whether these microbes have anything to do with health.
- Q3How it looks outside the UK, the US and the Netherlands.
05
Who's been studied
WhereNetherlands · UK · US
How many4 studies · 24,292 people
HowEach person measured once
06
The microbes
07
The studies
Each person measured once · Shotgun sequencing
Per-microbe tables open · CC BY 4.0 Competing interests Several authors have ties to ZOE Ltd, a nutrition company: three co-founded it, others are or were employees or consultants, and seven receive ZOE share options. 4 authors list ZOE Ltd among their affiliations.
Each person measured once · Shotgun sequencing
Per-microbe tables open · CC BY 4.0 Competing interests Some authors consulted for, or received grants or speaker fees from, pharmaceutical companies (Takeda, Johnson and Johnson, AbbVie, MSD, Olympus, AstraZeneca, Janssen, Pfizer). None from the food industry.
Each person measured once · Shotgun sequencing
Cited in our own words · Author manuscript under the publisher's terms Competing interests Several authors are consultants to ZOE, a nutrition company, and others are or were its employees. 10 authors list Zoe Global Ltd among their affiliations.
Each person measured once · Shotgun sequencing
Cited in our own words · Author manuscript under the publisher's terms Competing interests None declared.