Anti-inflammatories

If you’re a regular coffee drinker, you now may have more reason to enjoy the habit, according to a new study. It suggests that people who drink coffee regularly have a slightly lower chance of dying earlier than expected, although we need more research to know for sure.

What do we know already?

Coffee drinking is either a virtue or a vice depending on what study you read. Some studies have found that people who drink coffee have a higher risk of dying from heart disease. But others report that coffee drinkers are actually less likely to get heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer.

Now, researchers have looked at whether drinking coffee for a long time (at least 18 years) might affect the chances of dying early in general, and from heart disease or cancer in particular.

What does the new study say?

The new study found that long-time coffee drinkers were no more likely to die earlier than people who didn’t drink coffee. In fact, coffee drinkers had a slightly lower chance of dying during the study than people who didn’t drink coffee, mainly because they were less likely to die from heart disease. These findings were strongest for women coffee drinkers.

Interestingly, the results were similar whether people drank regular or decaffeinated coffee, suggesting that something in the coffee other than caffeine might have a favourable effect.

Coffee drinking didn’t seem to affect people’s chances of dying from cancer.

Tell me more about the study’s findings

The researchers gathered information on more than 84,000 women and 41,000 men from two large health surveys in the US. Health questionnaires were first sent to people when they were in their 40s or 50s and then every two to four years for at least 18 years.

Researchers aren’t sure why coffee might provide a health benefit. But we do know that it is rich in nutrients called antioxidants, which reduce inflammation in the body. If inflammation lasts a long time, you may be more likely to develop heart disease and other health problems.

Where does the study come from?

The study was done by researchers in Madrid and Boston. It was funded by the National Institutes of Health, a US government agency that supports medical research. It was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, a journal produced by the American College of Physicians.

How reliable are the findings?

This was a very big study and it was generally well done. When working out the results, the researchers took into account other things that might have made people more likely to die early, such as their weight, whether they smoked and whether they had health problems at the start of the study. Even so, we can’t say for certain that coffee drinking was what made people slightly less likely to die during the study. There could have been something else about coffee drinkers that protected them.

Also, researchers relied on people to report their own coffee intake. This leaves room for error, as people might not have remembered how much coffee they drank.

What does this mean for me?

Drinking coffee regularly is unlikely to make you die any earlier and it may even help you live longer. But we need more research to know for sure.

What should I do now?

If you drink coffee, these findings might have you reaching for another cup. But before you do, bear in mind that researchers found coffee drinkers were only slightly less likely to die during the study than those who didn’t drink coffee. The study also didn’t look at how much coffee might be healthy to drink. But we do know that too much caffeine can cause headaches, restlessness, anxiety and lost sleep, among other problems. So, as with most things, moderation is probably the wisest approach.

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