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New research shows a link between regular coffee consumption and a lower risk of death. However, caffeine may not be responsible for this effect.
“Drink coffee, live longer”?
You might quickly get excited about your daily walk to the office coffee machine or the Senseo in your kitchen. I certainly do. I seize every excuse to enjoy my coffee with both hands. Not entirely without reason. As evidenced by the many studies we’ve covered here in articles about coffee and caffeine. When I just looked these up for the relevant links, I found that I had used this title before. But without the question mark. Last August, this was in response to Spanish research and two other studies. All three showed the same correlation: Drinking coffee reduced the risk of death.
According to the researchers of this latest study, we should see the results as reassuring for coffee drinkers [1]. Not as a guideline to drink more coffee. Hence the question mark.
One cup of coffee? Or eight?
In the aforementioned studies from last year, it was found, among other things, that more coffee resulted in a greater effect on life expectancy. Two or more cups of coffee resulted in a greater reduction in the risk of death than one cup of coffee. Every two additional cups lowered the risk of death by 22% [2,3].
In the recent study, American researchers used data from nearly half a million Britons with an average age of 57. The database not only contained data on coffee consumption but also genetic variations that influence how the body processes caffeine were known. More than three-quarters of the Britons in the database were coffee drinkers. Which is itself a sad observation for the British tradition of tea drinking.
Over a 10-year follow-up, there were 14,255 deaths. The data showed that the risk of death decreased as more coffee was consumed. Overall, but especially when it came to deaths from cancer or cardiovascular diseases. People who drank one cup a day had a six percent lower risk of death than those who drank less coffee. Those who drank eight or more cups of coffee a day had a fourteen percent lower risk of death.
The researchers took into account the influence of other factors. Such as age, smoking behavior, gender, body weight, and alcohol consumption.
Not thanks to caffeine
Unlike in previous studies, the effect or role of caffeine could now be examined.
Firstly, information on caffeine metabolism could be used. Genetic variations can cause caffeine to have different effects in different people [4]. A fast or slow metabolism of caffeine showed no effect in this study on the relationship between coffee consumption and the lower risk of death.
Furthermore, the researchers had information on the type of coffee. Instant coffee and decaffeinated coffee also showed the same association with a lower risk of death.
So, there’s still an excuse to keep drinking coffee, but no excuse for your energy drink. Sorry.
References
- Loftfield E, Cornelis MC, Caporaso N, Yu K, Sinha R, Freedman N. Association of Coffee Drinking With Mortality by Genetic Variation in Caffeine MetabolismFindings From the UK Biobank. JAMA Intern Med.</ em> Published online July 02, 2018. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.2425
- Park SY, Freedman ND, Haiman CA, et al. Association of coffee consumption with total and cause-specific mortality among nonwhite populations [published online July 11, 2017]. Ann Intern Med. doi:10.7326/M16-2472. http://annals.org/aim/article/2643433/association-coffee-consumption-total-cause-specific-mortality-among-nonwhite-populations
- Gunter MJ, Murphy N, Cross AJ, et al. Coffee drinking and mortality in 10 European countries: a multinational cohort study [published online July 11, 2017]. Ann Intern Med. doi:10.7326/M16-2945. http://annals.org/aim/article/2643435/coffee-drinking-mortality-10-european-countries-multinational-cohort-study
- Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies six novel loci associated with habitual coffee consumption. The Coffee and Caffeine Genetics Consortium, M C Cornelis. D I Chasman. Molecular Psychiatry volume 20, pages 647–656 (2015)
