Yet another study has come out in favour of coffee extending our life spans – and this time, it doesn’t matter what kind of coffee you drink.
Coffee has fast become the health drink. It’s a great source of natural energy, is packed with antioxidants, gets us pumped ahead of a workout and has been linked to better brain health.
But perhaps the biggest string to coffee’s bow in recent years, has been the fact that it may extend our lifespans. Study after study has been released suggesting the link, and this week, yet another paper has concluded that coffee may make us live longer. This time, the study – published in the European Journal of Preventative Cardiology has found that two-to-three cups of coffee (ground, instant or decaf) reduces our risk of cardiovascular disease.
Compared with not drinking coffee, it found that, over a 12.5 year period:
- decaf was associated with a 14% reduced risk of death
- ground coffee with a 27% reduced risk of death
- instant coffee with a 11% reduced risk of death
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Earlier this year, scientists examined the coffee consumption of 171,000 Brits and found that those who drank any amount of unsweetened coffee were up to 29% less likely to die early than people who don’t drink coffee at all.
Those who drink their coffee with sugar, were up to 31% less likely to die, so long as they stayed below four cups a day. It’s worth pointing out that there could be lots of factors as to why coffee drinkers tend to live longer, including socio-economic status and activity levels, and this study doesn’t compare freshly brewed coffee to the instant stuff.
However, it’s just the latest study to conclude that coffee can extend our lives. Earlier this year, a decade-long study of nearly 500,000 people found that those who drink up to three cups of coffee are 20% less likely to develop cardiovascular disease or suffer a stroke than those who don’t drink coffee at all. And those moderate drinkers are 12% less likely to die from any cause.
Published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, the study followed volunteers for 11 years. 22% were non-coffee drinkers, 58% drank up to three cups a day and 20% drank over three. Those who drank around three cups a day were less likely to be diabetic than zero-coffee drinkers and the people who drank over three were no more likely to suffer from high blood pressure than those who consumed less (which is something previous studies have contradicted).
So, what’s so good about coffee? The bean contains a number of useful nutrients including vitamins B2 and B3, magnesium, potassium, as well as a load of antioxidants that help protect the body against free radical damage. Antioxidants also protect us from inflammation – which is known to be linked to conditions such as type 2 diabetes and cancers.
Of course, coffee doesn’t agree with everyone. We all react differently to caffeine and while some people will struggle to pick up a third cup after drinking two coffees, others might barely notice they’ve had any caffeine.
Coffee can exacerbate certain conditions like acid reflux and anxiety, so it’s definitely not a good idea to push yourself to drink more coffee than you’re comfortable with. This research, however, is comforting for those of us who do drink umpteen Americanos a day and who are tired of being told to ditch the habit.
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