If you never start your day without a cup of coffee, you may be interested to hear that a new study suggests that drinking this very popular drink may make you much less likely to die in the coming years.
The study, which was published online by Annals of Internal Medicine on May 31, 2022, analysed data about coffee consumption from more than 170,000 people (average age 56) in the United Kingdom who did not have cancer or cardiovascular disease at the beginning of the study. On average, researchers followed participants for seven years. In addition, they considered lifestyle, diet, gender, age, and ethnicity.
People who consumed 1.5 to 3.5 cups of coffee per day, even with one teaspoon of added sugar per cup, were 30% less likely to die during the study period compared to those who did not consume coffee. It did not appear to matter whether the coffee contained caffeine or not, but the benefit diminished after 4.5 cups per day.
The study was observational, so the researchers were unable to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between coffee consumption and reduced mortality risk. It is also important to note that only one teaspoon of sugar was added to sugar-sweetened coffee in the study. Many coffee drinkers add significantly more, which may be detrimental to health in various ways.
Photo by Aphiwat chuangchoem
