Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Coffee ‘could add years to your life’
Coffee not only helps you feel full of beans — it might also add years to your life, two major studies have shown.
Scientists in Europe and the US have uncovered the clearest evidence yet that drinking coffee reduces the risk of death.
One study of more than half a million people from 10 European countries found that men who downed at least three cups of coffee a day were 18% less likely to die from any cause than noncoffee drinkers.
Women drinking the same amount benefited less but still experienced an 8% reduction in mortality over the period measured.
Similar results were reported by American scientists who conducted a separate investigation, recruiting 185,855 participants from different ethnic backgrounds.
Irrespective of ethnicity, people who drank two to three cups of coffee daily had an 18% reduced risk of death.
Both studies showed no advantage from drinking either caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee.
Experts believe the antioxidant plant compounds in coffee rather than caffeine are responsible for the life-extending effect.
Previous research has suggested that drinking coffee can reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, liver disease, and some cancers.
Dr Marc Gunter, from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, who led the European study with colleagues from Imperial College London, said: “We found that higher coffee consumption was associated with a lower risk of death from any cause, and specifically for circulatory diseases, and digestive diseases.
“Importantly, these results were similar across all of the 10 European countries, with variable coffee drinking habits and customs.”
Dr Gunter’s team examined data from 521,330 participants spanning 10 European countries including the UK, France, Denmark and Italy.
The US study focused on ethnicity because lifestyle habits and disease risk varies greatly among people from different races and cultures.
Participants included white Americans, African-Americans, Native Hawaiians, Japanese-Americans and Latinos.
Lead author Dr Veronica Setiawan, from the University of Southern California, said: “We cannot say drinking coffee will prolong your life but we see an association. If you like to drink coffee, drink up! If you’re not a coffee drinker, then you need to consider if you should start.”