外刊阅读|纽约时报

How does coffee affect the gut?

咖啡是如何影响肠道的？

Irritants like alcohol, cigarette smoke and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs — such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) or naproxen (Aleve) — are well known to alter our stomach’s natural defense mechanisms and injure its lining, said Dr. Byron Cryer, chief of internal medicine at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas.

达拉斯贝勒大学医学中心内科主任拜伦·克莱尔博士说，众所周知，酒精、香烟的烟雾和非甾体类抗炎药——如布洛芬或萘普生——会改变胃的自然防御机制，损伤其内膜。

His research lab specializes in understanding how different medications and other chemicals can harm the stomach and small intestine.

他的研究实验室专门研究各种药物和其他化学物质对胃和小肠的伤害。

While certain irritants can make the stomach more vulnerable to acid and ulcer formation, multiple large studies have found that this is not the case with coffee.

虽然某些刺激物会使胃更容易产生酸和溃疡，但多项大型研究发现，咖啡并不会。

A 2013 study of more than 8,000 people living in Japan, for example, found no significant association between coffee consumption and ulcer formation in the stomach or intestine — even among those who drank three or more cups per day.

例如，2013年一项针对8000多名日本居民的研究发现，喝咖啡与胃溃疡或肠溃疡形成之间没有显著的联系——即使是那些每天喝三杯或三杯以上咖啡的人。

“Coffee, even in a concentrated form, is not likely to cause objective injury to the stomach,” Dr. Cryer said. “And much less at the typical doses in usual beverages.”

“咖啡，即使是浓缩咖啡，也不太可能对胃造成客观上的伤害，”克莱尔说。“而且在普通饮料中，咖啡的典型剂量要少得多。”

Nonetheless, coffee does have an effect on the gut — it can speed up the colon and induce a bowel movement, and coffee increases acid production in the stomach.

尽管如此，咖啡确实对肠道有影响——它可以加速结肠蠕动，诱导排便，咖啡还会增加胃酸分泌。

Outside of the gut, the caffeine from coffee is well known to increase heart rate and blood pressure. And if you drink it too close to bedtime, it can disrupt your sleep. But these changes are temporary, Dr. Cryer said.

除了对肠道的影响，众所周知，咖啡中的咖啡因能提高心率和血压。如果临睡前喝咖啡会扰乱睡眠。但克莱尔说，这些变化都是暂时的。