Drinking coffee could help you live longer. For regular coffee drinkers this will be great news. For less habitual consumers, an excuse to have an extra cup. Be that as it may, a study carried out by scientists at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles (USA) has concluded that the consumption of this popular drink can increase longevity.
The findings, which have been published in the Annals of Internal Medicine , identify a link between daily coffee intake and reduced risk of death from numerous causes, including cancer, stroke, diabetes, and kidney disease. .
The researchers examined data from 185,855 adults, ages 45 to 75, who were part of the Multi-Ethnic Cohort Study. The participants took questionnaires about their diet, including how often they drank coffee, decaffeinated or not, and provided information about their medical and family history and lifestyle. Study follow-up was carried out for an average of 16 years.
Of the subjects, 16% seldom drank coffee, 31% drank a cup a day, 25% drank 2 or 3 cups a day, and 7% drank at least 4 cups of coffee a day. The remaining percentage (21%) corresponded to irregular coffee consumption.
Up to 58,397 participants died during study follow-up, with cardiovascular disease and cancer as the main causes of death.
Compared to individuals who never or rarely drank coffee, participants who drank one cup a day had a 12% lower risk of death from cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, respiratory disease, and kidney disease. For those who drank 2-3 cups of coffee a day, the risk was reduced by 18%.
The results were maintained in the four ethnic groups in the study, whether or not coffee was caffeinated and even after ruling out possible confounding factors such as age, sex, smoking and alcohol intake.
“ This study is the largest of its kind and includes minorities who have very different lifestyles . Seeing a similar pattern in different populations gives stronger biological support to the argument that coffee is good, be it white, African American, Latino or Asian, “explains Veronica W. Setiawan, leader of the work.
“Some people believe that drinking coffee is harmful, as it could increase the risk of heart disease or lead to stomach ulcers and heartburn, but research on coffee has not shown greater harm to people’s health,” says Setiawan .
Although this study does not prove a causal association between drinking coffee and a longer life, the scientists believe their findings indicate that the benefits of coffee consumption may outweigh the risks.
“We cannot say that drinking coffee will prolong your life, but we see an association, if you want to drink coffee, drink, if you are not a coffee drinker then you should consider whether you should start,” concludes Setiawan
Referencia: Association of Coffee Consumption With Total and Cause-Specific Mortality Among Nonwhite Populations . University of Southern California. Annals of Internal Medicine (2017). annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M16-2472
