Killer Question: Can drinking coffee make you live longer?
So, it seems like drinking your favourite cup of joe on a regular basis might be doing you a favour after all!
Okay, so we’ve heard that consuming a handful of nuts a day could make you live longer, and a study has even found that people who consume spicy food could prolong their lifespan… so, what else has the ability to give us a few more years on the clock? Well good news for coffee drinkers, because despite warnings from health professionals, scientists have recently relaunched the debate on the benefits of caffeine, and they’ve found some startling results.
Drinking several cups of coffee a day could greatly reduce the risk of developing diseases as well as increase life expectancy. This is demonstrated by the results of two new studies done in Europe and the United States, published in the American Journal Annals Of Internal Medicine.
3 Cups of coffee a day for higher life expectancy
The first study, conducted in 10 European countries under the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) and performed on a panel of more than 521,000 people aged 35 and older, showed that lifespans were longer among people consuming three cups of coffee per day, decaffeinated or not. Marc Gunter of the International Agency for Research on Cancer explains, “We found that higher coffee consumption was associated with a lower risk of death from any cause, and specifically for circulatory diseases, and digestive diseases”.
For researchers, this is due in part to the high antioxidant content in coffee.
Coffee reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease
The second study conducted in the United States on more than 185,000 people, aged 45 to 75 years, found that increased coffee consumption reduced the mortality rate resulting from cardiovascular diseases, respiratory and kidney diseases, and also diabetes.
However, though the results from this research are quite positive, the researchers point out that both studies are observational and not experimental. Further research should be conducted in order to prove a causal link between caffeine and the the human lifespan. Of course, it probably couldn’t hurt to amp up the coffee if you aren’t yet drinking the joe on a regular basis!
Laura Gabrieli & Angela Goh
Photos: Getty Images
Read more:
Slim & Trim: 20 Foods to help keep your stomach flat
Banned Breakfast: 15 Foods you should never eat first thing in the morning
Raw Food Diet: 6 Things to consider before adopting the trend
