People who consume two to three cups of coffee each day have a tendency to live longer and have less cardiovascular illness than those who don't, according to research based on a review of slightly less than half a million records in the U.K. Biobank.
Even if the research doesn't show that drinking more coffee lengthens your life, it is still a fascinating association that researchers want to look into more. It's crucial to compare the results to earlier research that connected a daily habit of six or more cups of coffee with brain shrinkage and a higher risk of dementia.
A sizable database with information on people's DNA, health, and lifestyles is called the UK Biobank. 449,563 persons with a median age of 58 were included in this study, and the sample gave data on their health and diet for an average of 12 and a half years.
Over 100,000 individuals reported not drinking any coffee at all, and the participants were divided into groups based on how much and what kind of coffee they typically consumed. The impacts of age, sex, ethnicity, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, smoking status, and tea and alcohol use were all taken into consideration during the analysis.
From there, electrophysiologist Peter Kistler, from the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Australia and colleagues could calculate variations in heart health outcomes and deaths from any cause for all coffee users during the course of the trial, in comparison to those who didn't.
All types of coffee, including instant, ground, and even decaffeinated, were linked to a lower risk of passing away. Two to three cups of coffee a day increased the likelihood of living longer. What may be driving the association is simply a hunch for researchers. Numerous different chemicals could be at blame if the problem is with the coffee itself.
"Caffeine is the most well-known constituent in coffee, but the beverage contains more than 100 biologically active components," Kistler said. "It is likely that the non-caffeinated compounds were responsible for the positive relationships observed between coffee drinking, cardiovascular disease, and survival."
By doing more research, the team discovered that drinking coffee was also associated with the onset of cardiovascular disease, with those who drank two to three cups per day having the lowest risk.
The results for the risk of arrhythmia, or an irregular cardiac rhythm, were slightly different; here, instant and ground coffee, but not decaffeinated, were associated with a lower chance of acquiring the disorder. Once more, it appeared that drinking just a couple of cups per day was the sweet spot.
