Should you have another cup of coffee? Previous studies have suggested that coffee drinkers might live longer. But how much coffee do you need to drink for this benefit?
How Many Cups of Coffee Do You Need to Live Longer?
New data presented at the European Society for Cardiology meetings seem to confirm that coffee drinkers are less likely to die prematurely. The investigators wanted to see if the previously-reported longevity benefits of coffee would hold up for people following a Mediterranean diet and lifestyle.
The volunteers in this study were approximately 20,000 adults who graduated from the University of Navarra in Spain, starting in 1999. Their average age at recruitment was 37.
Four Cups of Coffee a Day Seems to Help:
Ten years of follow-up revealed that those who drank at least four cups of coffee daily were about 64 percent less likely to die during that time than those who never touched the stuff. Such young people don’t die very often, however, so the absolute risk of premature death for people who don’t like coffee is probably still very small.
The investigators report that the benefits are clearest for people who are at least 45 years old. In fact, for every additional two cups of coffee the older volunteers drank, the risk of dying during the study dropped by 30 percent.
Dr. Adela Navarro, the cardiologist who led the study, remarked:
“Our findings suggest that drinking four cups of coffee each day can be part of a healthy diet in healthy people.”
European Society for Cardiology annual meeting, Barcelona, Spain, Aug. 27, 2017
