A new review has brought good news for coffee lovers as drinking the brew every day might be linked with living a longer and healthier life.
A review of more than 50 studies on coffee, published last month in the scientific journal Ageing Research Reviews, found that drinking coffee regularly was associated with an extra 1.8 years of life span.
But the study didn't just look at how long people lived, but how healthily, finding that coffee was linked with a longer health span too.
"We know that the world's population is aging faster than ever, which is why it's increasingly important to explore dietary interventions that may allow people to not only live longer but also healthier lives," said lead author Rodrigo Cunha, from the University of Coimbra, Portugal, in a statement.
Cunha told Newsweek: "The study is a review study, meaning that it compiled all available evidence relating coffee intake with aging and age-related diseases in humans.
"Additionally, the study gathered available evidence around coffee intake's impact on currently accepted mechanisms of aging; the seven pillars of aging."
Cunha added that, overall, they found a consistent association between coffee intake and living longer, as well as healthier aging.
Coffee is most commonly associated with caffeine—that natural stimulant to which so many of us are addicted—and that might not be so beneficial for our health.
But research has increasingly turned to the other compounds that coffee contains, more than 2,000 of them, which could have a positive impact on our health.
These include plenty of polyphenols, which are antioxidant and anti-inflammatory plant chemicals that calm oxidative stress—internal wear and tear—in the body.
Other polyphenol-rich foods include leafy green vegetables, berries, dark chocolate, extra-virgin olive oil, green tea and red wine.
The authors of this study suggested that clinical recommendations, which generally warn against drinking coffee into old age based on its caffeine content, should be updated to reflect its benefits.
"Traditional clinical recommendations have at times overlooked coffee's role in healthy aging, but with a strong research base around how regular consumption can potentially reduce some of the most chronic diseases facing society, it is likely time to reevaluate these," said Cunha.
The review concluded that global epidemiological studies pointed to the positive impact of regular moderate coffee consumption—defined as up to three to five cups per day—on human aging, increasing life span and decreasing the risk of many of the age-related diseases that contribute to mortality.
They found links between regular coffee consumption and a lower risk of heart disease, lung disease, stroke, some cancers, diabetes, dementia, depression and frailty.
Also, coffee seemed associated with better muscular, heart, mental and immune health.
"Our review underlines the role regular, moderate coffee consumption can play in mediating against the biological mechanisms that naturally slow or fail as we get older, triggering a range of potential health issues and comorbidities," said Cunha.
"And there is still room to understand more about exactly how these mechanisms work, as well as which individuals may be biologically predisposed to benefiting most from coffee's interactions with them."
The authors noted that the positive effects they observed were relatively minor; in other words, coffee was associated with better health outcomes and life spans, but only slightly.
Plus, their review was based on epidemiological, observational studies, so we can't be sure whether these links were due to the health benefits of coffee or outside factors—such as socioeconomic status.
This study was funded by the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee (ISIC).
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Reference
Lopes, C. R., Cunha, R. A. (2024). Impact of coffee intake on human aging: Epidemiology and cellular mechanisms, Ageing Research Reviews, 102(102581). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2024.102581
About the writer
Hatty Willmoth is a Newsweek food and nutrition reporter based in London, U.K. She has covered special diets, gut health ... Read more