Drinking coffee reduces risk of death from all health causes
Drinking approximately three cups of coffee per day has been linked with a lower risk of death in two newly published scientific studies.
Welcome news to us coffee-lovers, the study has shown that the risk of death ‘from any cause’ is significantly reduced—at least by those featured within the study.
High coffee consumption—which is unfortunately not defined within the study—was shown to reduce the risk posed by diseases related to circulation and digestion.
Scientists agree that more research is needed to fully prove the link between coffee and these health benefits, but believe that the antioxidant plant compounds found within coffee—not caffeine—are the reason for the life-prolonging effects.
Teams of researchers from Imperial College London and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) surveyed a staggering half a million people based in 10 European countries—including the UK—before crunching the numbers and publishing this new data.
They found that men who drank upwards of three cups of coffee per day were 18 per cent less likely to die from a health-related issue than those who didn’t consume the drink at all. Women saw an eight per cent reduced risk if consumption was at a similar level.
Just one cup of coffee per day was deemed enough to reduce the risk of death by 12 per cent, no matter ethnicity, whilst if that consumption level were increased to between two and three cups per day, the risk was reduced by 18 per cent.
Drinking standard or decaffeinated coffee made no discernable difference. The health benefits were the same.
Whilst this is welcome good news, both teams of scientists have warned that further research is needed to determine that these effects were as a result of coffee itself.
Dr Veronica Setiawan, the study’s US lead author, said: “Coffee contains a lot of antioxidants and phenolic compounds that play an important role in cancer prevention.
“We cannot say drinking coffee will prolong your life, but we see an association. If you like to drink coffee, drink up! If you’re not a coffee drinker, then you need to consider if you should start.”
One of the best bits of information found was: Drinking standard or decaffeinated coffee made no discernable difference. The health benefits were the same.
Our advice then is to drink up! If you’ve never drunk coffee before, then maybe now is time to consider a caffeinated (or decaffeinated) beverage.
But one thing this study doesn’t seem to conclude: Our actual ‘chance of death’ is 100%…