Coffee prolongs life, regardless of the quantities consumed and the polymorphisms of caffeine

JAMA Internal Medicine is publishing a study this week that shows how coffee, even when consumed in large quantities (8 cups a day) and by people with different abilities to metabolize caffeine, reduces the risk of death, up to the following day. at 14-16%, compared to non-consumers. Instant, ground or decaffeinated, coffee in all its forms is an elixir of long life.

03 JUL – That a moderate consumption of coffee is inversely proportional to mortality, from cardiovascular to cancer, is what has been known and scientifically proven for some time. But what happens to these carriers of these polymorphisms that influence the metabolism of caffeine, especially in case of high consumption, more than 5 cups of coffee per day? Can an increase in mortality occur in these cases? That's the question behind a large prospective study, the British Biobank, which involved 9.2 million people followed for a decade (from 2006 to 2016).

The research investigated the potential effect of the alteration of caffeine metabolism, defined by a gene score of previously identified polymorphisms (in AHR, CYP1A2m CYP2A6 and POR) that influence caffeine metabolism, on a total of about half a million participants in the British Biobank study, for which complete data were available on coffee consumption and smoking habit.

The average age of participants was 57, 54% were women; 78% of them consumed coffee. After 10 years of follow-up, 14,225 deaths occurred and coffee consumption was inversely related to all-cause mortality.

In particular, compared to non-coffee drinkers, who consume between 6 and 7 cups of coffee per day, they have a reduced mortality risk of 16% and even among heavy consumers (more than 8 cups of coffee per day). day). no consumer seems to be reduced by 14%. No differences appeared in the type of coffee consumed (instant, ground, decaffeinated) or related to the type of genetic polymorphism of caffeine metabolism.

The results, thus also for the great coffee drinkers and for those who have particular genetic polymorphisms influencing the metabolism of caffeine, are completely rebaduring and, again, in favor of the consumption of coffee in all its forms . These results – say the authors – represent one more reason – to include coffee consumption in a healthy diet.

Maria Rita Montebelli

03 July 2018
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