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Go ahead and take that cup of coffee, maybe even more. New research shows that this can increase the chances of a longer life, even for those who drink at least eight cups a day.
In a study of nearly half a million British adults, coffee drinkers had a slightly lower risk of death over ten years than abstainers.
The apparent increase in longevity was observed with instantaneous results, ground and decaffeinated, which echo American research. This is the first major study to suggest a benefit, even in people suffering from genetic glitches affecting the way their body uses caffeine.
Overall, coffee drinkers were about 10 to 15% less likely to die than abstainers for a decade of follow-up. Differences in the amount of coffee consumed and genetic variation were minimal.
The results do not prove that your coffee maker is a fountain of youth and is not a reason for abstainers to start drinking coffee, says Alice Lichtenstein, a nutritionist from Tufts University who does not say that the coffee maker is a fountain of youth. was not involved in the research. But she said the results reinforce previous research and add extra assurance for coffee drinkers.
"It's hard to believe that anything we value so much could be good for us, or at least not be bad," said Lichtenstein.
The study was published Monday in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
It is not clear how drinking coffee could affect longevity. Lead author Erikka Loftfield, a researcher at the US National Cancer Institute, said that coffee contains more than 1,000 chemical compounds, including antioxidants, that help protect cells from cancer. damage.
Other studies have suggested that substances contained in coffee can reduce inflammation and improve the way the body uses insulin, which can reduce the chances of developing diabetes. Loftfield said efforts to explain the potential benefit of longevity continue.
Adam Taylor, fetching two iced coffees for friends Monday in downtown Chicago, said the results of the study made sense.
"The coffee makes you happy, it gives you something to expect in the morning," said Taylor, a Las Vegas sound engineer.
"I try to have one cup a day," Taylor said. "Otherwise, I'm getting a little hyper."
For the study, the researchers invited 9 million British adults to participate; 498,134 women and men aged 40 to 69 were in agreement. The low participation rate means that the people concerned may have been in better health than the general population in the United Kingdom, the researchers said.
Participants completed questionnaires on daily coffee consumption, exercise and other habits, and received physical exams, including blood tests. Most were coffee drinkers; 154,000 or nearly a third drink two to three cups a day and 10,000 drink at least eight cups a day.
Over the next decade, 14,225 participants died, mostly from cancer or heart disease.
Caffeine can cause short-term increases in blood pressure, and some smaller studies have suggested that it could be related to high blood pressure, particularly in people with genetic variation that causes them to slowly metabolize caffeine.
But coffee drinkers of the British study had no higher risks than those who did not suffer from heart disease and other causes related to blood pressure. And when all the causes of death were combined, even the slow metabolizers of caffeine had a longevity spurt.
As in previous studies, coffee drinkers were more likely than non-abstainers to drink alcohol and smoke, but researchers took these factors into account and coffee consumption seemed to cancel them.
Research did not include whether participants drank black coffee or with cream and sugar. But Lichtenstein said that loading coffee with fat and calories is not healthy.
@LindseyTanner
The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Department of Science Education of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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