Americans drink an estimated 517 million cups of coffee every day. National Coffee Association (opens in new tab), making it the most popular non-water beverage in the United States. Drinking coffee has been associated with various health benefits. But will it help you live longer?
Many large studies suggest that biologically active compounds in coffee, including caffeine, may help maintain inflammation, chronic health conditions and even certain cancers at bay. However, correlation is not the same as causation, so there is still not enough evidence to assert that drinking Morning He beer will prolong life.
“The data are from a retrospective study. [and] Dr. Chip Raby, medical director of cardiac rehabilitation and preventive cardiology at the John Oxner Cardiovascular Institute in New Orleans, told Live Science: on mail.
But what exactly did these large-scale studies linking coffee drinking to health benefits and longer life find?
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According to a 2018 study published in the journal Progression of cardiovascular disease (opens in new tab), coffee has over 1,000 biologically active compounds.One of the key ingredients called chlorogenic acid improves glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity. This helps improve the body’s ability to process sugars. Insulin sensitivity refers to how well the body’s cells respond to insulin. High insulin sensitivity allows the body’s cells to use blood sugar more effectively, resulting in lower blood sugar levels.2019 systematic review of Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine (opens in new tab) These effects have been shown to reduce risk type 2 diabetesA 2013 paper found that a systematic review of nine studies found that people who drank six or more cups of coffee a day had a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who drank two or fewer. rice field. Journal of the American College of Cardiology (opens in new tab).
Compounds such as melanoids, quinine, lignans and trigonelline have anti-inflammatory properties, antioxidantwhich means to prevent or delay damage cell Free Radicals – Unstable molecules produced in the body when it processes food and reacts to environmental pollutants and toxins. canceraccording to a study published in crude drug reviews (opens in new tab).
84% of coffee drinkers drink a cup of coffee with breakfast. National Coffee Association (opens in new tab)suggests that most people drink coffee for the caffeine. Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system. nervous system By blocking signals in the brain that normally dampen brain activity. It also has a weak bronchodilator effect and relaxes the muscles, making breathing easier. lung It widens the airways (bronchial tubes). However, one of the main effects caffeine has on the body is heartAccording to the Progress on Cardiovascular Diseases study, “Habitual coffee consumption is also associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular (CV) death and a range of adverse CV outcomes, including coronary heart disease (CHD).” . [and] congestive heart failure (HF)”.
This may seem counterintuitive to some. “Caffeine seems bad because it makes you feel better. Heart rate When [blood pressure] increase sharply and theoretically [cardiac] However, most data suggest that regular caffeine use is safe and is associated with lower mortality from cardiovascular disease and even lower all-cause mortality over decades. .
The positive effects of coffee on the heart are well documented and there are impressive data. Drinking coffee may be associated with a lower risk of dying from heart disease. Part of the reason is that the beverage may lower the risk of other health conditions that can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.According to advances in cardiovascular disease research, especially among “genetically predisposed individuals, obesity, the higher the coffee consumption, the lower the body mass index, a metric often used to estimate body fat percentage. A high BMI can lead to changes in your body cholesterol Elevated blood pressure increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, heart attack, and heart failure.
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According to a 2017 study published in British Journal of Medicine (opens in new tab), coffee consumption also reduces the risk of liver scarring (fibrosis and cirrhosis), liver cancer, and fatty liver disease (fatty liver). appears to suppress the synthesis of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), a molecule involved in the development of fibrosis and tumors. Other positive benefits are thought to be due to the antiviral effects of chlorogenic and caffeic acids in coffee. British River Trust (opens in new tab).
The Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases study also reported that daily coffee consumption was strongly associated with a lower risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, many studies suggest that coffee drinkers have less Parkinson’s disease (PD) than non-coffee drinkers, but it’s still unclear why. (opens in new tab)A meta-analysis of 26 studies published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (opens in new tab) It was suggested that regular caffeine intake was associated with an approximately 25% reduction in the risk of Parkinson’s disease. (opens in new tab)the exact reduction in risk varied between reports.
The same study cited an “increasingly impressive and consistent set of data” that daily coffee drinkers had a 7% to 12% lower risk of premature death than non-coffee drinkers.Citing a 2005 study published in the journal jam (opens in new tab)A study of 521,330 adults followed for an average of 16 years found that those who drank at least three cups of coffee a day had a significantly lower risk of dying from any cause during that period.
Other studies have linked coffee to longer life expectancy. For example, in his two large studies in 2017, one from the United States and one from Europe, researchers found: drink caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee Live Science previously reported that they were less likely to die every day for about 16 years than those who didn’t drink coffee.
According to a report in the British Medical Journal, these meta-analyses touting coffee’s health benefits are typically based on “a large number of potential Adjust for confounding factors.” As Lavie commented: [of other health and lifestyle factors] But it’s hard to fix everything statistically. ”
One lifestyle factor that goes against the trend is smoking. “Very heavy smokers tend to drink more coffee,” Raby said.
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However, there is a major caveat to these findings. Some studies have shown that coffee is associated with a lower risk of death, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that drinking coffee increases life expectancy.
A 2020 study published in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (opens in new tab)researchers investigated whether drinking coffee and tea affected the chances of study participants to live to age 90. We assessed whether it actually increased life expectancy, rather than simply reducing the likelihood of developing the disease. We have discussed various health and lifestyle factors that can affect you. race and ethnicity.
The researchers found that “no coffee consumption was associated with survival to age 90 in older women, suggesting that coffee consumption is not associated with longevity.” The Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science told Live Science.
However, this research is not without limitations. For example, the study cannot determine whether these findings extend to men. “Coffee consumption may be associated with a lower risk of death early in life, but it is not associated with longevity, subject to survival to an older age such as age 65,” the study said. The author of writes… So coffee drinking may make you less likely to die in your 50s and more likely to survive into your 60s. But once he reaches his 60s, coffee drinking doesn’t seem to affect whether he survives to 90.
So should we drink more coffee to extend life? Lavie said more evidence is needed before coffee can be recommended as a life-extending elixir. Not drinking alcohol at all can mean missing out on the health benefits of caffeine, antioxidants, and other biologically active compounds in the drink. Due to the reduction in mortality from vascular disease and some all-cause mortality, “the data are sufficient to inform people that drinking coffee is very safe, even for a few cups a day.” , a few cups of coffee are more beneficial than no coffee at all.”
This article is for informational purposes only and does not provide medical advice.
Originally published in Live Science.