A new Harvard study links coffee drinking to longevity
The results of a questionnaire published online by the journal Circulation shows that coffee drinking is associated with a lower risk of early death.
Three studies analyzed the answers of 208,000 men and women over a 30-year period. The investigators found that, compared with people who don't drink coffee, those who drank three to five cups of caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee per day had a lower risk of death of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, neurological diseases such as Parkinson's, and suicide.
Dr. Ming Ding, the first author of the study at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, says it could be that certain compounds in coffee, such as chlorogenic acid, may help reduce insulin resistance, and inflammation, which are associated with many diseases.
The study conclusion: If you drink a moderate amount of coffee, it's fine to keep the habit. But there isn't enough evidence that you should drink more for the sake of longer life expectancy, according to the study.
