Largest Study Finds Coffee May Prolong Life

People who drink around three cups of coffee a day may live longer than non-coffee drinkers, a landmark study has found.

The findings come from the largest study of its kind, in which scientists analyzed data from more than half a million people across 10 European countries, including the UK, to explore the effect of coffee consumption on risk of mortality, according to a report on the website of Imperial College London.

Researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer and ICL found that higher levels of coffee consumption were associated with a reduced risk of death from all causes, particularly from circulatory diseases and diseases related to the digestive tract.

Previous studies looking for a link between coffee consumption and health outcomes have revealed conflicting results. However, large studies in both the US and Japan have since revealed a potential beneficial effect of drinking coffee on risk of death from all causes.

In the latest study, published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers have carried out the largest analysis of the effects of coffee-drinking in a European population—where coffee consumption and preparation methods vary—finding a similar association between consumption and mortality.

“We found that higher coffee consumption was associated with a lower risk of death from any cause, and specifically for circulatory diseases, and digestive diseases,” said lead author Marc Gunter of the IARC and formerly at Imperial’s School of Public Health.

Using data from an EPIC study (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition), the group analyzed data from 521,330 people from over the age of 35 from 10 EU countries, including the UK, France, Denmark and Italy. People’s diets were assessed using questionnaires and interviews.

Those who drank more coffee were also more likely to be younger, to be smokers, drinkers, eat more meat and less fruit and veg.

“We found that drinking more coffee was associated with a more favourable liver function profile and immune response,” explained Dr Gunter. “This, along with the consistency of the results with other studies in the US and Japan gives us greater confidence that coffee may have beneficial health effects.”

Coffee is one of the world’s most commonly consumed beverages, with an estimated 2.25 billion cups drank around the world each day. It contains a number of compounds which can interact with the body, including caffeine, diterpenes and antioxidants, and the ratios of these compounds can be affected by the variety of methods used to prepare coffee.