Coffee drinkers live longer
LONDON: People who drink three to four cups of coffee a day are more likely to see health benefits than harm, experiencing lower risks of premature death and heart disease than those who abstain, scientists said yesterday.
The research, which collated evidence from more than 200 previous studies, also found coffee consumption was linked to lower risks of diabetes, liver disease, dementia and some cancers.
Three or four cups a day conferred the greatest benefit, the scientists said, except for women who were pregnant or who had a higher risk of suffering fractures.
Coffee is one of the most commonly consumed drinks worldwide. To better understand its effects on health, Robin Poole, a public health specialist at Britain’s University of Southampton, led a research team in a review of 201 studies based on observational research and 17 studies based on clinical trials across all countries and all settings.
“Coffee drinking appears safe within usual patterns of consumption,” Pool’s team concluded in their research, published in the British Medical Journal late yesterday.
Drinking coffee was consistently linked with a lower risk of death from all causes and from heart disease. The largest reduction in relative risk of premature death was seen in people consuming three cups a day.
Drinking more than three cups a day was not linked to harm, but the beneficial effects were less pronounced.
Coffee was also associated with a lower risk of several cancers. The greatest benefit was seen for liver conditions such as cirrhosis of the liver.
Poole’s team noted that because their review included mainly observational data, no firm conclusions could be drawn. But they said their findings supported other recent reviews and studies of coffee intake. – Reuters