‘Live longer with six coffees per day’
WHETHER you like a flat white or prefer decaf, here’s some news that should leave you full of beans.
People who drink six cups of coffee a day are 16% less likely to die early, a study found. The reduced risk was found to be similar for all types of coffee – including instant, decaffeinated or ground – suggesting the benefits are not linked to caffeine.
Scientists believe that natural antioxidants found in the plant compounds can help to protect against some cancers and cardiovascular disease.
US researchers looked at the mortality rates of almost 500,000 people over ten years in relation to their coffee intake. Generally, the more cups people drank, the lower their chances of dying sooner from those diseases.
This peaked at between six and seven cups, where rates fell by a sixth compared to those who never drank coffee. But even those who drank twice the recommended amount of four cups of coffee a day saw their chances of dying early reduced by 14%, according to the researchers from the National Cancer Institute in Maryland.
The European Food Safety Agency advises that people drink no more than four cups a day, saying those who do run the risk of anxiety, sleeplessness, heart rhythm disturbances or heart failure.
Yet the US findings suggest the health benefits extend to the decaffeinated variety, without the pitfalls of caffeine.
The protective effect was also identified among moderate and light coffee drinkers, but to a lesser degree. Two to five cups, one cup, or less than one cup a day reduced early mortality by 12%, 8% and 6%, respectively, over the same period. Results were adjusted for lifestyle factors, such as smoking and diet.
The findings, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, add to the growing evidence that coffee can be part of a healthy diet, the authors say.