Regular Coffee Drinkers Lived Longer Than Non-Drinkers: Study

Coffee is one of the most popular drinks consumed globally. A study revealed that drinking coffee might help in living longer.  

According to the study published in the medical journal Annals of Internal Medicine, people who drank a moderate amount of coffee (about three and a half cups) daily might have a better chance to live longer. 

The researchers tracked the coffee consumption and health of 171,616 participants for about seven years. When the study started, the average age of the participants was 56 years, and every participant was free of diseases like cancer or cardiovascular diseases, as reported by the Washington Post. 

Previous studies found several health benefits of drinking coffee, but this study recorded the effect of sugar and artificial sweeteners on the coffee. 

Researchers found that people who drank one and a half to three and a half cups of coffee a day were about thirty percent less likely to die because of any disease, including cardiovascular diseases or cancer, than those who did not drink coffee. Another significant thing researchers noted was that coffee drinkers had more chance of living longer irrespective of the amount of sugar they added to their drinks. 

Another significant thing researchers found was that even the type of coffee (ground, instant, or decaffeinated) made no difference in the results. However, the study’s results were described as inconclusive for the use of artificial sweeteners. 

Over the years, research has shown several health benefits of coffee, including reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes, depression, Parkinson’s disease, and more. However, the researchers could not prove coffee was the lone responsible for participants’ lowered mortality risk. 

Additionally, several nutritionists often link the benefits of coffee to the presence of antioxidants in coffee beans. The antioxidants help in reducing internal inflammation and cell damage. Also, coffee is often drunk for instant energy and increased alertness. However, nutritionists suggested that caffeine could disrupt sleep and be risky during pregnancy. 

Experts highlighted a few shortcomings of the study. The amount of sugar and type of sweetener was self-reported. This could have made some incorrect statistics for the study. 

Researchers concluded that unsweetened or sugar-sweetened coffee, irrespective of type, was associated with a lower risk of death.