If you are one of the many people who go running to your coffee machine first thing in the morning, there is good news. According to new studies drinking up to 6 cups of coffee, caffeinated or decaffeinated, will do no harm and may even extend your life span. In fact, the coffee may even help your heart , especially for women. In the June 17th issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, Dr Esther Lopez-Garcia, assistant professor of preventative medicine at the Autonoma University in Madrid, Spain states, “our results suggest that long-term, regular coffee consumption does not increase the risk of death and probably has several beneficial effects on health”.
In this widely published study the researchers analyzed the relationship between coffee consumption and the risks of dying from heart disease, cancer, and many other causes. When the study started all participants were free of heart disease and cancer. Every two to four years the participants of the study were asked to fill out a questionnaire which asked about their coffee drinking habits, diet, smoking, and other health related conditions. The researchers then analyzed the questionnaires and looked at death rates from any cause, death from heart disease, and death from cancer. They compared death rates to those who did not drink coffee regularly. Their results showed conclusive evidence that women who drank two to three cups of caffeinate coffee daily had a 25% lower death rate from heart disease and an 18% lower chance of dying from a cause other than cancer or heart disease compared to those who did not drink coffee. The researchers also note that the benefits of coffee drinking were not found to be related to caffeine. As the participants who drank decaf had the same lowered death rates. Surprisingly, for men, the results were inconclusive. There did not seem to be a link between coffee drinking and death rates.
Although this study is good news for coffee drinkers and can be looked at as credible because there are a large amount of participants, some researchers are skeptical still. Some scientists believe that it is not the coffee itself, but the antioxidants found in the coffee that is having the profound effects on the human body.
