Coffee has been an age-old medical toss up: Physicians and researchers alike have been debating the effects of the drink on human health for decades. Today, coffee has a generally positive reputation among nutritionists, but it hasn’t always been this way. In the 1600s, some people believed thatcoffee causes impotence, and in the mid-1800’s, rumors went around that coffee could make you go blind and stunt your growth.
Most recently, a study published in the European Society of Cardiology in late August demonstrated that higher coffee consumption is associated with a lower risk of death. The study included about 20,000 Mediterranean participants with the average age of 37.7 years old.
“Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages around the world,” Adela Navarro, a cardiologist at Hospital de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain, said, according to ScienceDaily. “Previous studies have suggested that drinking coffee might be inversely associated with all-cause mortality but this has not been investigated in a Mediterranean country.”
Participants were asked to complete a survey to collect data on coffee consumption, lifestyle, demographics and health concerns when they entered the study. The patients were followed up with surveys and questionnaires over the period of approximately 10 years. Over the course of the decade, 337 of the original 19,896 participants died.
After averaging results across age groups and demographic differences, researchers found that participants who consumed more than three cups of coffee daily had a 64 percent lower risk of mortality over those who were not heavy coffee drinkers. Confounding factors such as sex, age and adherence to certain Mediterranean diets were analyzed to control for results.
Researchers showed that age affected coffee consumption’s effect on mortality. Specifically, drinking two additional cups of coffee daily lead to a 30 percent lower risk of mortality for those 45-years-old or older. However, this association was not found when analyzing younger patients.
“We found an inverse association between drinking coffee and the risk of all-cause mortality, particularly in people aged 45 years and above,” Navarro said. “This may be due to a stronger protective association among older participants. Our findings suggest that drinking four cups of coffee each day can be part of a healthy diet in healthy people.”
Furthermore, the researchers found that two additional cups of coffee per day would lower risk of mortality for all ages by an average of 22 percent.
This is not the first study to link coffee consumption and improved health outcomes.
In 2013, the journal Circulation completed a meta-analysis of 36 studies that linked moderate coffee drinking with low risk for heart disease. The study included more than 1.2 million participants. The study also dispelled old rumors such as large daily doses of coffee (more than five cups a day) increases risk for heart disease.
Also in 2013, another meta-analysis study published in the British Journal of Nutrition, found that drinking coffee reduced total mortality risk slightly. However, no reliable quantitative data was found. This meta-analysis included 17 studies and more than a million participants.
Another study done this year focused on the general population rather than just only those of Mediterranean descent. The study included 185,000 African-Americans, Native Americans, Hawaiians, Japanese-Americans, Latinos and whites with varying sociodemographic characteristics.
Researchers found that coffee can biologically effect the body, leading to reduced health risk. Specifically, decreased risk for heart disease, cancer, respiratory disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease were linked with increased coffee consumption.
Currently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture states that drinking between three to five cups of coffee a day can improve lifestyle. Of course, the debate is ongoing; In the coming years there’s sure to be more longitudinal and observational studies to further the discussion.
