If you have a daily coffee habit, then go ahead and indulge – it could be saving you from premature death!
A study by Harvard University’s School of Public Health, published last week, found that people who drank three to five cups of coffee per day – ‘moderate consumption’ – had about a 15 per cent lower risk of dying prematurely from some illnesses than those who don’t drink any – or drink less coffee.
No mice involved here; only real people and lots of them. In fact, the researchers analysed data gathered from people involved in three very large, long-term, ongoing studies where coffee consumption was one of many things being observed and measured. In total there were over 200,000 people, monitored over 30 years*.
During the study period, 19,524 women and 12,432 men died from a range of different causes.
But across the whole population of people involved in the study, they found that ‘moderate coffee consumption’ was associated with reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, and suicide.
And that’s not all. Coffee consumption was not associated with cancer deaths!
And before you start speculating about other factors that might undermine the validity of these findings, the researchers took into consideration a wide range of potential confounding factors in their analysis – such as smoking, body mass index, physical activity, alcohol consumption, and other dietary factors.
Caffeine not a factor
So what is it about coffee?
Well, one thing that is clear is that it’s not the caffeine. The results were similar for people who drink decaffeinated coffee.
In fact, the authors admit they are not entirely sure what it is… yet. But they believe it is related to some of the naturally occurring compounds that are found in coffee. The coffee bean itself is loaded with many different nutrients and plant chemicals – many of which have previously been shown to reduce insulin resistance and systematic inflammation – and somehow, together they produce some of these benefits.
License to caffeinate?
Of course, nobody is saying that drinking copious amounts of coffee is a good idea either. Too much caffeine can interfere with your sleep and make you feel jittery and uneasy. And people metabolise caffeine differently too. Some people are much more sensitive to these affects than others.
But the caffeine isn’t all bad either. A study involving US Navy seals operating under extreme pressure found that “moderate doses of caffeine can improve cognitive function, including vigilance, learning, memory, and mood state.”
“When cognitive performance is critical and must be maintained during exposure to severe stress, administration of caffeine may provide a significant advantage. A dose of 200 mg appears to be optimal under such conditions,” the researchers concluded.
The Harvard University School of Public Health has put together a helpful 30 second video infographic which sums it all up nicely! Watch it over your cappuccino.
* 74,890 women in the Nurses’ Health Study; 93,054 women in the Nurses’ Health Study 2; and 40,557 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.
