Science has made coffee even better
Say wine, snacks or haute cuisine and the gourmands at online food magazine FavorFlav know where to drink, how to eat it and what to cook. This time our cheffies serve you: Have scientists made coffee even better now?
Meanwhile, almost everyone is aware of the benefits of a healthy gut flora in your body, where the good, body-owning bacteria always come out as winners in the continuous battle against bad bacteria and disease-causing microorganisms. Whether coffee is good for your gut health or not, there are varying opinions and research on this, but these scientists decided to take matters into their own hands and try to make coffee good for your gut, simply without any doubt.
Because there is scientific literature that states that drinking coffee is generally recommended because it helps to stimulate bowel movements and maintain digestion. On the other hand, doctors also say that the laxative effect of coffee can be detrimental for people with sensitive guts. But suppose your gut is doing just fine and you are also looking for a way to give the health of your gut flora a boost... Could this coffee then be exactly what you need?
Doctor Coffee
Food scientists at the National University of Singapore have developed a coffee (and a tea) that is rich in probiotics. Certain nutrients and probiotics have been added to brewed coffee, after which the drink fermented for twenty-four hours before cooling. The caffeine content remained intact, as did the organic compounds in coffee that have a proven positive effect on health.. Alcine Chan, the scientist who developed the coffee, also created different variants; some with a softer mouthfeel, others with smoky flavor profiles, and also a coffee that is higher in acids.. There is something for every preference. The coffee is not yet available to consumers, but who knows, this might set something in motion with producers.
Weighing options
However, according to scientists at our own Maastricht UMC+, it is often still questionable whether those added probiotics are useful.. “It's custom work,” says Dr. Daisy Jonkers, a specialist in gastrointestinal and liver diseases there. “With foods containing probiotics, it's a matter of luck. Some people benefit from it, others do not. If you are often sick, you could try such a probiotic drink for four weeks to see what happens. By learning more about the functions of certain bacteria in the gut, better products may be developed in the future for specific applications.”
So whether you can order a probiotic oat latte extra hot at your favorite barista and whether it can be beneficial for your health is still questionable, but it is always nice to know that work is being done towards a healthier world.
