Since then, there’s been research out of China and now, the latest study hails from Australia. Not surprisingly, anti-aging experts are taking notice. Here’s what you need to know when you grab a cup of joe…
In recent years major studies have demonstrated that coffee drinkers have a reduced risk of death from any cause compared to abstainers. But science is rarely settled so studies continue to be carried out.
Risk of Death Falls by up to 31 Percent
Three studies on coffee and longevity have been published in 2022 all using data from the UK Biobank, a medical resource containing detailed information on half a million British volunteers.In the first, researchers from Hungary and the UK included 468,629 individuals with no signs of heart disease at the start of the study.
After a follow up period of eleven years, they found that compared to non-coffee drinkers, those drinking between half a cup and three cups of coffee a day had a 12 percent reduced risk of dying from any cause, a 17 percent reduced risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and a 21 percent reduced risk of suffering a stroke.
In the second study, scientists from Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China, used data from 171,616 participants. After seven years coffee lovers enjoyed up to a 31 percent reduction in their risk of death whether they sweetened their coffee with sugar or not. This didn’t apply if artificial sweeteners were used, however.
Dr. Christina Wee, deputy editor of the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, which published the study, wrote, “The authors found that drinking moderate levels of coffee regularly was associated with a lower risk of dying from any cause, dying from cancer, and dying from heart disease. The lower risk of dying associated with moderate levels of coffee-drinking was true regardless of whether you drank decaffeinated coffee, instant coffee, or ground coffee.”
In other words, whether it’s ground, instant or decaffeinated; whether it’s sweetened with real sugar or not, all studies come to the same conclusion - coffee lengthens your life.
Two considerations do seem to matter however, and that’s whether you add artificial sweeteners—which, as we just learned, doesn’t help your longevity—and how many cups a day you drink.
Two to Three Cups Per Day
The latest research, published in September, points to the ideal amount of coffee to drink to bring about the greatest risk reduction.Researchers from the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia, included 449,563 participants with an average age of 58 and free of cardiovascular disease when the study began.
When they adjusted for multiple factors that affect disease risk, the researchers found that after 12.5 years follow up, all types of coffee were linked to a reduction in cardiovascular disease. However, there was a much bigger reduction in those who drank ground coffee. Specifically, ground coffee drinkers enjoyed a 27 percent reduction in death risk compared to 14 percent for decaffeinated coffee drinkers and 11 percent for instant coffee drinkers.
All types of coffee were also linked with a reduction in death from any cause. But the greatest reduction in death risk was in those drinking two to three cups of coffee per day. There was a smaller benefit to longevity for those drinking either less than two cups or more than three cups.
How Does Coffee Help?
Professor Peter Kistler, who led the research, said, “Caffeine is the most well-known constituent in coffee, but the beverage contains more than 100 biologically active components. It is likely that the non-caffeinated compounds were responsible for the positive relationships observed between coffee drinking, cardiovascular disease, and survival.”He said these components can help reduce oxidative stress and inflammation, improve insulin sensitivity, boost metabolism, inhibit the gut's absorption of fat and block receptors known to be involved with abnormal heart rhythms.
He therefore concludes that “mild to moderate intake of ground, instant and decaffeinated coffee should be considered part of a healthy lifestyle.”
Just avoid the artificial sweetener.
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35048949/
- https://studyfinds.org/sugar-in-coffee-longer-life/
- https://www.escardio.org/The-ESC/Press-Office/Press-releases/Coffee-drinking-is-associated-
with-increased-longevity - https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220324104420.htm
- https://academic.oup.com/eurjpc/advance-article/doi/10.1093/eurjpc/zwac189/6704995?
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