A cup a day keeps the doctor away?
Mounting evidence shows caffeine lovers who drink coffee daily are less likely to die early compared to those who don’t, a new study suggests.
For seven years, Southern Medical University researchers in Guangzhou, China, studied the habits and overall health of over 171,000 people, who did not have cancer or chronic disease, in the UK.
Ultimately, they discovered that those who drank unsweetened coffee regularly were 15 to 21% less likely to die than the participants who didn’t. The study also found that people who drank between one and four cups of lightly sweetened coffee every day were 29 to 31% less likely to die.
The study was published Tuesday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
Researchers studied 171,616 participants with an average age of 55.6 years, looking at people who drank unsweetened, sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened coffee. While sugar-sweetened and unsweetened coffee showed a link between consumption and a lower risk of early death, the data for a cup of artificially sweetened joe was “less consistent.”
But this isn’t the first study that has proved coffee’s benefits. A cup of joe — or a few — a day has been linked to a healthier liver and a lowered risk of heart failure. According to Mayo Clinic, the caffeinated drink could also protect avid drinkers from Parkinson’s disease or type 2 diabetes.
While there are a few risks associated with high caffeine intake — like temporary blood pressure increase or, in the case of boiled, unfiltered coffee, heightened cholesterol — the benefits seem to outweigh them.
But don’t go overboard on the java.
While 400 milligrams, or about four cups, is safe for adults, it can cause more than just the jitters.
Overloading every day on caffeine can cause headaches, insomnia, nervousness, irritability, muscle tremors or a fast heartbeat, which could mean you need to limit your intake. Overconsumption has the potential to cause iron deficiencies, which can be a recipe for hair loss.