Three cups of coffee a day may spare you an early grave

DRINKING three or four cups of coffee a day may significantly cut the chances of an early death, a study suggests, with health benefits even for those who consume up to seven cups a day.

A review of more than 200 previous investigations found that coffee is “more likely to benefit health than harm it”, indicating even heavy users were safe.

The research by the Universities of Southampton and Edinburgh found that three or four cups every day was associated with a 17per cent reduced chance of death compared to people who drink none.

Those in the study who drank seven cups still appeared to show some benefit, enjoying a 10 per cent reduced chance of death.

Drinking coffee has been linked to a lower risk of specific cancers including prostate, endometrial, skin and liver cancers, and has “beneficial associations” with conditions including diabetes, gallstones and gout.

It is also linked to lower risk of Parkinson’s disease, depression and Alzheimer’s, the study found. However, in pregnant women, a high level of consumption is linked to lower birth rates, pre-term birth and pregnancy loss.

“Even small individual health effects could be important on a population scale,” the researchers wrote in the journal BMJ Open.