Drinking Coffee 'May Make You Live Longer', Study Reveals

Drinking Coffee 'May Make You Live Longer', Study Reveals

Drinking three to five cups per of coffee per day may reduce risk of premature death from serious illness, scientists have revealed.

Moderate coffee consumption - yes, three to five cups is considered "moderate" - may reduce risk of a whole host of health conditions including heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and neurological conditions such as Parkinson's disease, according to Press Association.

But scientists found no association with rates of death from cancer.

The study also linked moderate coffee drinking to lower risk of suicide.

Interestingly, it didn't matter whether coffee was caffeinated or decaffeinated, which lead researchers to believe that other bioactive compounds may key in improving health.

Lead author Ming Ding, from the Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, said: "Bioactive compounds in coffee reduce insulin resistance and systematic inflammation. That could explain some of our findings. However, more studies are needed to investigate the biological mechanisms producing these effects."

Scientists studied more than 200,000 men and women, from a series of questionnaires completed over a 30-year period.

The study compared moderate consumption with little or no coffee drinking and considered other lifestyle factors such as smoking, body mass index (BMI), levels of physical activity, alcohol consumption and diet.

Co-author Professor Frank Hu, also from the Harvard, said: "This study provides further evidence that moderate consumption of coffee may confer health benefits in terms of reducing premature death due to several diseases."

Emily Reeve, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: "It is important to remember that maintaining a healthy lifestyle is what really matters if you want to keep your heart healthy, not how much coffee you drink.

"Previous research suggests that drinking up to five cups of coffee a day is not harmful to your cardiovascular health, and this study supports that. But more research is needed to fully understand how coffee affects our body and what it is in coffee that may affect a person's risk of heart attack or stroke."

The study was published in the journal Circulation.

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