STUDY FINDS LINK BETWEEN COFFEE, LOWER MORTALITY

Those who drank 1.5 to 3.5 cups of coffee per day were up to 30 percent less likely to die during the study period.

That morning cup of coffee may be linked to a lower risk of dying, researchers from a study published May 31 in The Annals of Internal Medicine concluded.

Those who drank 1.5 to 3.5 cups of coffee per day, even with 1 teaspoon of sugar, were up to 30 percent less likely to die during the study period than those who didn’t drink coffee. Those who drank unsweetened coffee were 16 percent to 21 percent less likely to die during the study period, with those drinking about three cups per day having the lowest risk of death when compared with noncoffee drinkers.

Researchers analyzed coffee consumption data collected from the U.K. Biobank, a large medical database with health information from people across Britain. They analyzed demographic, lifestyle and dietary information collected from more than 170,000 people between the ages of 37 and 73 over a median follow-up period of seven years. The mortality risk remained lower for people who drank both decaffeinated and caffeinated coffee. The data was inconclusive for those who drank coffee with artificial sweeteners.

“It’s huge,” said Dr. Christina Wee, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a deputy editor of the scientific journal in which the study was published. “There are very few things that reduce your mortality by 30 percent.”

Wee edited the study and published a corresponding editorial in the same journal.

There are, however, major caveats to interpreting this research, she added. This is an observational study, which means the data cannot conclusively prove that coffee itself lowers the risk of dying; there may be other lifestyle factors contributing to that lower mortality risk, such as a healthy diet or a consistent exercise routine.

The average amount of added sugar per cup of sweetened coffee in the study was a little more than 1 teaspoon — far less than what is typically added to many sugary drinks at coffee chains. A tall Caramel Macchiato at Starbucks, for instance, contains 25 grams of sugar, about five times as much sugar as a sweetened cup of coffee from the study.

Scientists don’t know exactly what makes coffee so beneficial, said Dr. Eric Goldberg, a clinical associate professor of medicine at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, but the answer may lie in its antioxidant properties, which can prevent or delay cell damage.

There is also the possibility that coffee drinkers tend to make healthier choices in general. They might opt for a cold brew or a cup of drip coffee instead of a less healthy source of caffeine, such as an energy drink or soda, Goldberg said.