For many coffee lovers, the morning ritual can quickly turn into an uncomfortable ordeal. If coffee gives you an upset stomach or heartburn, you may be able to alleviate these gastrointestinal symptoms by replacing your usual brew with a low-acid option.
Your coffee choices and brewing methods can create the rich flavor you crave without the unwanted burn.
Why does coffee cause stomach problems?
Certain types and roasts of coffee beans not only contain higher amounts of acid, but also stimulate the body to produce more bile acids, according to The Nutrition Source. These acids can exacerbate digestive symptoms like acid reflux, as well as create more frequent and stronger urges to go to the bathroom because they speed up digestion.
The caffeine in coffee further increases the amount of acid in the stomach and intensifies contractions of the digestive tract, making gastrointestinal discomforts like acid reflux and heartburn more likely in some people, according to the Cleveland Clinic. These effects can be especially powerful when you drink coffee on an empty stomach.
How you take your coffee is also important. If you fill your cup with high-fat milk or cream, you risk further worsening symptoms like acid reflux, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Extra-sweet coffee preparations can also be a problem. Research shows that overdoing it with simple sugars can make reflux worse, and consuming too many artificial sweeteners made from sugar and alcohol can lead to symptoms like gas, bloating and diarrhea, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Low Acid Coffee Options
In addition to reconsidering the amount of cream and sugar that typically ends up in your cup of coffee, try the following brews, which have a naturally lower acid content, which may also help minimize your uncomfortable digestive symptoms.
Dark Roasts
“Dark roasts tend to have lower acidity than light or medium roasts,” says Amanda Sauceda, RDN, a gut health dietitian based in Long Beach, California. The longer roasting time not only releases more of the coffee bean’s rich aroma and flavor, but also reduces the overall acidity of the beans, according to The Nutrition Source.
Espresso
The rapid brewing process of espresso is responsible for making the resulting drink less acidic than your standard cup of coffee, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The shorter the brew, the less acid will seep into your coffee cup.
Portion size also plays a role here, says Sauceda. In fact, a 1.5-ounce (oz) shot of espresso can lessen the effects of acid on your stomach compared to a 16-ounce shot of drip coffee.
Cold brew
According to research, cold brew coffee’s longer brewing process at colder temperatures appears to be responsible for the coffee drink’s low acidity. Although preparation methods can vary widely, cold brew is consistently described as tasting sweeter and less acidic than its steamy counterpart.
Coffee with mushrooms or chicory
For more adventurous coffee drinkers, blends containing anti-inflammatory mushroom extracts can result in a less acidic cup of coffee, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
And research suggests that coffee and chicory blends are known to improve digestion and support gut health rather than exacerbating distress.
Plus, both of these drinks tend to contain a lower amount of caffeine than your standard cup of coffee (chicory alone is naturally caffeine-free, according to Harvard Health Publishing), which can further reduce any digestive discomfort you might experience.
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