If You Drink Coffee Every Day, It Can Add Two Extra Years To Your Life
If you’re debating on pouring yourself another cup of coffee, you might want to go for it because researchers have found that coffee lovers who drink the brew every day might live longer and healthier lives. Whether you prefer black coffee or a foamy latte, your morning beverage is serving up some health benefits.
More than 50 studies on coffee were reviewed and compiled into one large study. The results showed that drinking coffee regularly could gain almost two extra years of lifespan with a longer health span as well.
“We know that the world’s population is aging faster than ever, which is why it’s increasingly important to explore dietary interventions that may allow people to not only live longer but also healthier lives,” said Rodrigo Cunha, the lead author of the study from the University of Coimbra in Portugal.
Overall, Cunha and colleagues discovered that there was a consistent association between coffee consumption and living longer, in addition to healthier aging.
Coffee is often linked to caffeine, a natural stimulant that many of us are addicted to, which might not be so healthy for us.
But research has begun to highlight the other compounds in coffee—more than 2,000 of them—that could actually be beneficial to our health.
For instance, there are plenty of polyphenols, which are antioxidant and anti-inflammatory plant chemicals that soothe oxidative stress in the body.
Other examples of foods rich in polyphenols include berries, leafy green vegetables, dark chocolate, red wine, green tea, and extra-virgin olive oil.
The authors of this study recommend that warnings against coffee intake in old age due to its caffeine content should be updated to reflect the more positive health impacts as well.
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“Traditional clinical recommendations have at times overlooked coffee’s role in healthy aging, but with a strong research base around how regular consumption can potentially reduce some of the most chronic diseases facing society, it is likely time to reevaluate these,” Cunha said.
The review concluded that regular moderate coffee consumption, which is defined as up to three to five cups per day, can have a positive impact on human health and aging. It increases lifespan by about 1.8 years and decreases the risk of many age-related diseases.
There were also some correlations between regular coffee intake and a reduced risk of heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, stroke, some cancers, dementia, and depression.
The authors did note that the positive effects they saw were pretty minor, and outside factors like socioeconomic status could’ve contributed to the results. So, that’s something to keep in mind as you sip on your morning cup of joe.
The study was funded by the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee (ISIC) and published in the scientific journal Ageing Research Reviews.
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