Recent, Large-Scale Observational Studies Agree Coffee Might Help You Live Longer

The European Society of Cardiology has completed a new large-scale study of 20,000 participants that determined that drinking coffee and (maybe as much as you want) may help you live longer.

The study found that people who drink four or more cups of coffee a day were observed to have a 64% less chance of early death when compare to people who never or rarely drink coffee. The study notes that the risk reduction increased as people reached the age of 45. This suggests the benefits of consuming coffee increase as we age.

This all echoes another recent and large observational study that both regular and decaf drinkers appear to live longer. Other research has shown that coffee reduces the risk of disease like type 2 diabetes, liver disease, Alzheimer’s, skin cancer and colorectal cancer.

While all of this is true, this is not a free for all to for everyone to start ingesting copious amounts of coffee. Both pregnant women and those with heart conditions should limit their intake. Data is inconsistent when it comes to pregnant women consuming more than 200mg of caffeine a day when it comes to risks like miscarriage or premature birth. As caffeine speeds up heart rate anyone with a heart condition should consult a doctor before consuming too much caffeine.

Remember that decaffeinated coffee isn’t “no-caf” and that drinking 3-4 cups a day of decaf could still be problematic for heart patients.

Some final thoughts: if you don’t take you coffee black low-fat milk is better than cream; though a teaspoon of sugar in a cup of coffee isn’t much, it does add up if you drink multiple cups a day; those with high cholesterol should avoid unfiltered coffee, compounds left in unfiltered coffee can increase cholesterol in some people; those with sleep issues should avoid caffeine in the evening or even earlier.

Love Tea? You might live longer!

A researcher at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences published a study that associates regular tea drinking with lower risks of cardiovascular disease. For the study, they tracked over 100,000 adults across 15 provinces in China for more than seven years. The drinkers who had at least three servings of tea a week lived 1.41 years longer than those who didn’t.

Tea drinkers are at about 22% lower risk of dying of heart disease or stroke and 15% less likely to die from other diseases. They also found through a smaller study that those who drank tea over longer periods reduced risk even more. This smaller group was followed for over eight years and those that drank tea more often had a 56% decrease of a chance of stroke or heart disease, and 29% less risk of dying of other illnesses.

Because the polyphenols are not stored long-term in your body, tea should be consumed frequently. The most health benefits are from green tea. Green tea is higher in polyphenols. Black tea loses some polyphenols during the process used to ferment it during production.

This study did not take into account diet or exercise so there may be other factors that could effect this outcome.

Source – TheRegister