Your Morning Cuppa Is Bumping Up Your Life Span

Beauty experts and skin specialists might not vouch for the effect coffee has on your body (dehydrates the system to give you dull and dead skin) but a recent study will have you taking your morning Joe seriously!

Coffee v/s Coffin

Judicious coffee intake – up to 200 milligrams per day – is even deemed safe for pregnant women, according to a statement by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. And now according to a health research conducted in US over a span of 10 years, regular coffee drinkers are at a lower rick of being affected by diseases such as diabetes and cardiac ailments.

The higher amount of coffee that subjects consumed (even decaffeinated), the lower was their chances of dying early. “Coffee contains numerous biologically active compounds, including phenolic acids, potassium, and caffeine,” lead author Dr. Erikka Loftfield of the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Maryland told Reuters.

Experiment

According to reports, the study used data from a previous study on 90,317 adults without cancer or a history of cardiac disease who were monitored from 1998 through 2009. The ‘subjects’ had reported regular habits like their coffee intake, along with other dietary and health details, at the start of the study.

By 2009, about 8,700 people of the chosen lot had died. After accounting for factors like smoking, the researchers unveiled that coffee drinkers were less likely to have died during the study than people who did not indulge in a morning cuppa.

Observation

According to the results in American Journal of Epidemiology, those who drank four to five cups of coffee per day were at the lowest risk. A similar observation was made among people who preferred decaffeinated coffee.

“There is an accumulating number of studies of very high quality that show that people who drink more coffee tend to have better health outcomes,” said Dr. Marc J. Gunter of Imperial College London, who was not part of the new study.

“Coffee drinking is correlated with other health behaviours,” and those who drink it regularly may have other healthy habits, like exercising and keeping to a healthier diet, though the researchers tried to account for those other factors, Gunter told Reuters Health.

Reflections

Although the study indicates that coffee assures a longer life, it doesn’t necessarily mean that drinking coffee stretches your life span. In a nutshell, it is not of medicinal use or purpose.

“It doesn’t seem to do you any harm, if you like drinking coffee then carry on,” Gunter said.

Despite many advocating for the ill-effects of coffee, the drink can be part of a healthy, balanced lifestyle, and it may even do some good, though it hasn’t yet been recommended by experts that non-drinkers adopt the habit for health benefits and longevity.