A new paper found both caffeinated and decaf coffee alter gut microbes in ways tied to lower stress, depression and impulsivity — which means the brain-benefits of your cup might come from your belly as much as your brain. Researchers measured microbe changes and associated behavioral measures; the effect showed up even with decaf, so caffeine alone isn’t the whole story. For anyone tracking coffee’s mental-health signals, this nudges us to watch the microbiome as part of the picture — and to note that decaf can still move the mood needle.

As part of a turnaround plan Starbucks will shutter roughly 250 stores in North America this year; the closures are framed as a refocus on profitability and store performance, which matters if you follow corporate strategy, local access, or union-bust drama.

An Oxford-linked analysis revived the warning that drinking very hot tea or coffee is tied to a roughly threefold increase in esophageal cancer risk — temperature matters more than the beverage, so let your latte cool before the first victorious sip.

Sleep researchers now suggest avoiding coffee up to nine hours before bedtime to improve sleep, not the shorter cutoffs many people cite — the takeaway: timing and individual sensitivity both count.