Coffee & Longevity: new findings from an English study

A British scientist deifies our daily coffee.

It is a common secret that, despite years of prejudice, coffee is a beverage beneficial to human health, with many benefits. Despite the rumors to the contrary, coffee is one of the healthiest beverages a person can enjoy - and a study from the UK directly links coffee consumption to longevity and good health, with unwavering arguments.

The study that justifies every coffee lover

Dr. Erikka Loftfield of the National Cancer Research Institute in the United Kingdom, along with colleagues from the University of Chicago, "ran" a study that interests every coffee lover. The study involved more than 500,000 people from the UK and the main finding has to do with the association of coffee consumption with premature mortality.

More specifically, research has shown that those who consume at least one cup of coffee a day, tend to live longer than those who avoid coffee altogether. The chance of longevity increases even more as coffee consumption increases, reaching the impressive number of 8 cups a day. From one point onwards, the benefits remain constant and do not increase with the over-consumption of coffee, which anyway does not concern much people, since we are really talking about ... a lot of coffee!

The benefits of coffee to the body and the benefit of avoiding the possibility of premature death have nothing to do with the presence of caffeine, but with the hundreds of other substances found in coffee. Coffee, in almost every form, is rich in polyphenols, antioxidants, potassium, magnesium, folic acid and dozens of other useful ingredients. Coffee, continues Dr. Loftfield, has a variety of actions that can be characterized as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-hypertensive, etc., ie a real "fan" of benefits for the human body.





How important is the type of coffee we drink?

It is important to note that the research focused on people who metabolize caffeine, either sooner or later, wanting to have a wider sample in order to draw safer conclusions. In the same way, it did not limit the amount of coffee consumed by the volunteers. Among the sample were people who drank espresso and filter coffee, but also instant, even decaffeinated coffee.

The conclusions are impressive, as it seems that the type of coffee we prefer is not particularly related to its benefits in our body! The beneficial substances of coffee are present in almost every form of coffee, even those that are given to be more processed, such as instant coffee or decaffeinated coffee. These findings can be reassuring to any coffee drinker, but also dispel some persistent myths that decaf or instant choices are unhealthy and should be avoided.



Does coffee cause hypertension and heart problems?

A common misconception is that over-consumption of coffee can cause hypertension in some people, or exacerbate existing heart problems. According to the study, the side effects of coffee are due to how quickly the human body metabolizes caffeine, down which is clearly due to genetic factors. However, the study showed that "slow" and "fast" metabolites simply have differences in how much they are affected by coffee consumption, while the benefits to human health remain exactly the same. Drinking coffee not only will not harm someone with a "slow" caffeine metabolism, but on the contrary, it will benefit him as much as one who metabolizes caffeine quickly.



We do not need scientific studies to enjoy a cup of coffee - but the findings of Dr. Loftfield and her team are sure to fill us with optimism!