Search Here

People who drink a few cups of coffee daily are likely to live longer than people who don't drink coffee, according to a new study.

Nothing sounds better than waking up to nice hot cup of coffee. Well! There's all the more reason why coffee lovers (and non-lovers) should look forward to their daily dose of coffee. A recent study conducted by researchers at the National Cancer Institute found that coffee drinkers are less likely to die earlier than those who don't drink coffee.

The study stated that coffee was found to have characteristics that provided lesser risk of people dying from heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, accidents and injuries, diabetes, and infections. However, researchers were quick to note that coffee doesn't keep away cancer. This statement was made after analyzing the effect of other factors of dying like drinking and smoking.

"I would say it offers some reassurance to coffee drinkers," said Neal Freedman, a nutritional epidemiology researcher at the National Cancer Institute. "Other studies have suggested a higher risk of mortality with coffee drinking and we didn't see that in our study."

This study is touted to being the largest study carried out on linking coffee and mortality. The study also states that people who drink at least six cups of coffee a day were less likely to die for the next 14 years during which the study would be carried out.

"It's good news for all coffee drinkers because we can feel really good about the decisions we're making," said Turer, director of coffee operations for the firm Coffee Analysts, which provides unbiased scientific review of coffee products. "People concerned about the health effects may choose to drink more coffee."

Published in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, the study had researches review the coffee habits of more than 402,000 people followed between 1995 and 2008, including more than 52,000 who died. All the people reviewed were healthy people. Those with cancer and heart diseases were excluded from the study.

 "We didn't know what to expect," recalled Freedman. "There have been a lot of studies and the results have been mixed."

Previous studies included one done by Freedman suggested a higher rate of death among coffee drinkers. However, it was later found that most coffee drinkers were also smokers and it was the smoking that caused the deaths. In fact, during this recent study Freedman found that coffee actually cuts the risk of death among smokers.

"It was only after we took into account people's smoking that the association, the inverse association, revealed itself," he said. "Smoking has a really strong association with death."

While the study results come as glad tidings for all coffee addicts, Freedman urges people to use common sense as well and check with their doctors too.

"I don't want people to read this and say, 'Oh, I'm going to drink more coffee because I don't want to die,'" he said. "We just don't know whether it's cause or effect."