The idea that drinking more coffee could lead to a longer life got a scientific support at the NCI.

If you love coffee and can’t get enough of it, we have some good news for you as a recent study suggests that it could have a connection with a longer life. The findings of the research were based on a data of 500,000 people and were published in the journal ‘JAMA Internal Medicine’. The study said that drinking even more than 8 cups of coffee a day is linked with a lower risk of death in a follow-up period of 10 years. Having said that, the researchers clarified that these results are purely observational and they must be interpreted accordingly. The lead author Erikka Loftfield, who is a Research Fellow at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), told the world about that as she said,

“Although these findings may reassure coffee drinkers, these results are from an observational study and should be interpreted cautiously.”

The data used for this research was extracted from the U.K. Biobank study. Health record of more than 9 million people was gathered for that project. The people who took part in it were also asked about their daily intake of coffee. The team of Loftfield made use of this information for their analysis. The fact that a complete health description was available, including the drinking and smoking habits, proved extremely helpful for the researching team as they managed to get a diverse sample data. 10 years later, the team of U.K. Biobank had their follow-up and found that 14,000 people have died during that phase. The results showed that the chances of your death are inversely proportional to the number of cups of coffee you drink.

Another factor that could have led to some ambiguities was the difference between coffee types. Researchers found that slight variations were there but the conclusion held true for most of the cases including Ground and Decaffeinated Coffee. Prior to this experiment, some people believed that Caffeine offers longevity. However, the association of Decaf Coffee with longer life made it certain that other compounds could well be responsible for that. Despite the research, Loftfield advised that there isn’t enough data to infer that every person should start drinking 8 cups of coffee on a daily basis as only 10,000 of the 500,000 participants drank more than 8 cups a day. Edward Giovannucci, a Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at the T.H. Chan Public School of Public Health of Harvard, strengthened her point by saying,

“This new study is consistent with the previous studies but show[s] that the potential benefit extends to higher intakes of coffee. But [it] doesn’t mean that everyone should drink 8 cups of coffee a day.”

Giovannucci stressed the fact that not only the number of people is not enough but the chances of a longer life increase ever so slightly if you go from 4 cups a day to 8 cups a day. Given minimal benefit, it is high ‘Not Recommended’ as far as Giovannucci is concerned.

He also mentioned that we have failed to reach a consensus about whether coffee is good for our health or not, despite several studies, because all the data is provided by the people themselves. The authenticity of all the information is dependent on the volunteer and all researchers could do is to observe. However, he was happy about the fact that we have a lot of consistent evidence to prove that it is actually beneficial for the human body. He concluded the matter in the following words:

“While the evidence may not be strong enough to suggest that [a person start] drinking coffee for health benefits, people drinking coffee should feel reassured of no harm and probably even benefits of coffee. But don’t overdo the sugar and cream.”

Some of the most common benefits of Coffee include:

·         Source of Essential Antioxidants – Just like green vegetables and blueberries, Coffee has Polyphenols which neutralize free radicals and ensure prevention of troubles like Chronic Degenerative diseases.

·         Fights Age-related Diseases – It is extremely effective against these diseases as it lowers Inflammation. Similarly, the caffeine intake from coffee is vital for Alzheimer’s in the later stages of our lives.

·         Lowers the Chances of Diabetes – It has been found through observations that daily intake of caffeinated coffee plays an active role in reducing the chances of Type 2 Diabetes.