Physical Wellness

Driking Coffee, Even Decaf May Prolong Life, New Studies Say

By Ivy Greene | Update Date: Jul 11, 2017 06:54 AM EDT

According to two new studies, which recently came out this Monday, (July 10), drinking coffee could prolong life. Get to know what these two new discoveries have to say about the relationship of coffee consumption and longevity.

Studies On Drinking Coffee In Relationship To Living Longer

The findings have brought back to the centuries-old declaration that coffee indeed has beneficial health effects - this is even true for those who prefer decaf. Per CNN, one of the studies looked into more than 520,000 people in 10 European countries, thus making it the largest study to date on coffee and mortality. They found that drinking more coffee could notably lower a person's risk of mortality.

The second study was more unconventional, as it zeroed-in on non-white populations. After studying over 185,000 African-Americans, Native Americans, Hawaiians, Japanese-Americans, Latinos , and whites, the research found that coffee increases longevity across various races. 

People who had two to four cups a day had an 18 percent lower risk of death, in contrast with people who did not drink coffee at all. These study's findings are compatible with previous ones that had looked into majority white populations, according to Veronica Wendy Setiawan, associate professor of preventative medicine at USC's Keck School of Medicine, who led the study on nonwhite populations.

"Given these very diverse populations, all these people have different lifestyles. They have very different dietary habits and different susceptibilities -- and we still find similar patterns," Setiawan said. It only shows in the new study that there is a greater biological possibility for the connection between coffee and longevity and discovered that mortality was inversely connected to coffee consumption for conditions like cancer, stroke, heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease, and diabetes.

Previous Studies On Drinking Coffee And Its Effects 

Past research had already offered strong suggestions that coffee is not bad for you - it might actually be good for you. Although those studies generally involved fewer people and most of whom were of European descent (via Los Angeles Times). 

Why is coffee healthy? For example, the polyphenols found in coffee act as antioxidants, which helps cells survive from the damaging effects of molecules called free radicals. Also, genes related to caffeine metabolism also impact things like blood pressure and cholesterol.

Both groups of researchers noted that previous studies have linked coffee drinking to development in the body's liver function, sensitivity to insulin, and inflammation. But the results from the two studies should alleviate any fears that there's something dangerous about drinking up to five cups of coffee each day, the authors added.

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