Why coffee IS the key to a longer life
It reduces risk of heart disease and inflammation
the mystery of why coffee drinkers live longer can finally be explained, scientists said yesterday.
they found that caffeine, the ingredient that gives coffee, tea and some fizzy drinks a lift, blocks chemicals that can trigger heart disease.
this is because the chemicals cause the inflammation and stiffening of blood vessels – a condition that plays a role in many diseases, the experts’ study said.
the Stanford University tests showed that people with fewer of the chemicals linked to inflammation had more caffeine in their bloodstream. Further investigation revealed that – as would have been expected – they drank more coffee than their peers.
A chemical found in chocolate, theobromine, was also found to have an anti-inflammatory effect, although not as pronounced as caffeine. David Furman, of Stanford, said: ‘More than 90 per cent of all noncommunicable diseases of ageing are associated with chronic inflammation. it’s also well known that caffeine intake is associated with longevity.
‘Many studies have shown this asso- ciation. We’ve found a possible reason for why this may be so.’
his colleague Mark Davis said: ‘Our findings show that an underlying inflammatory process, which is associated with ageing, is not only driving cardiovascular disease but is, in turn, driven by molecular events that we may be able to target and combat.’
the US authors said that a continuing study of participants aged 20-30, and another group of people aged 60, those who ‘tended to drink more caffeinated beverages’ had lower levels of inflammatory compounds in their blood.
Further tests in the laboratory in human cell cultures found that caffeine had an active role in combating the chemicals that trigger inflammation.
the key chemical targeted by caffeine is called interleukin-1beta. When injected into mice, it led to ‘massive systemic inflammation, along with high blood pressure’. it also led to immune cells – white blood cells that fight infection – clogging the rodents’ kidneys. it also created more platelets, which make blood more likely to clot.
Dr Davis added: ‘that something many people drink – and actually like to drink – might have a direct benefit came as a surprise to us. What we’ve shown is a correlation between caffeine consumption and longevity. And we’ve shown more rigorously, in laboratory tests, a very plausible mechanism for why this might be so.’
the authors, whose study was published in Nature Medicine, did not specify an amount of coffee that they think would be beneficial, only noting that ‘moderate coffee consumption may suppress systemic inflammation’.
Previous studies have said that drinking around three cups of coffee a day had an anti-inflammatory effect in the brain.
And a study of 25,000 adults from South Korea found people who drink between three and five cups of coffee a day were less likely to have the first signs of coronary heart disease – stiffened arteries.
‘It came as a surprise to us’