Coffee drinkers, jump for joy. A recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine found that coffee drinkers live longer. This is promising news for approximately 50 percent of the population who drink some form of coffee.
Historically, scientific studies attributed coffee drinking to heightened blood pressure and risk of heart disease. Previous studies have shown that coffee drinkers were more likely to die at any time. However previous studies failed to take into account inherent biases like coffee drinkers are more likely to smoke and consume more alcohol.
But according to the National Institute of Health and AARP coffee drinkers live longer when all inherent biases are accounted for. What the recent study found was that when all things are equal, regular coffee drinkers tend to live longer. However, the study fell short of concluding a causal relationship. The study published in the The New England Journal of Medicine concluded that coffee consumption was inversely associated with total and cause-specific mortality. Whether this was a causal or associational finding cannot be determined from our data. But when eliminating all external biases, the study found that regular coffee drinkers are less likely to die from heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and respiratory disease.
According to statistics from The Specialty Coffee Association of America, the average coffee drinker drinks 3.2 cups of coffee a day. But this latest study does not give statistics on how much coffee correlates to optimal longevity or at what quantity coffee will start to have adverse effects. However, there are several tips to go about drinking coffee so that you can lower the health risks.
- Too much coffee can be a bad thing. If you have too much coffee in your system, you can possibly suffer side effects such as nervousness, jitteriness, insomnia, an upset stomach, and tremors. Taking l-theanine can help with this. According to Harvard nutritionists, it is perfectly safe to drink up to 5 cups of coffee per day, although many people drink beyond that without any negative consequences.
- Hold the sugar and cream. Having too much sugar in your system can potentially offset any benefits you reap from drinking coffee. There is actually a study that indicates that too much sugar can actually erode your brainpower. And of course, cream and sugar means excess calories and zero nutrients and vitamins. Black coffee by itself contains virtual no calories. The calories comes from all the additives that are mixed in to make your frappuccino, cappuccino, and the likes.
- Try not to drink coffee right before a meal. Drinking coffee right before your meal can suppress your appetite and also give you an upset stomach.
- Coffee in the evening can lead to disturbed sleep, even for the initiated. It is recommended to not drink any coffee after 3pm if you want sound sleep at night. Research shows that caffeine disrupts sleep up to 6 hours after intake.
