Coffee, wine keep microbes in your gut healthy, scientists say

Scientists have some great news for those who love coffee, tea and wine: Drinking any of these beverages is associated with a healthier and more diverse community of microbes living in the gut.

The opposite is true for consuming sugary drinks and whole milk, and for eating a lot of carbohydrates and indulging in frequent snacks, researchers reported this week in the journal Science.

In other words, when it comes to the makeup of your gut microbiome, you are what you eat — and drink.

“In total we found 60 dietary factors that influence diversity,” Dr. Alexandra Zhernakova, a researcher at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and the first author of the study, said in a statement. “But there is good correlation between diversity and health: Greater diversity is better.”


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