Coffee Drinkers May Live Longer

Keyword in that title is may. The study conducted by the National Cancer Institute (which is part of the National Institutes of Health, and AARP) has associated drinking three or more cups of coffee per day with a 10 percent lower risk of death, though it seems the results are far from conclusive.

It needs to be made very clear, that these results are very much preliminary. Neal Freedman, Ph.D, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, who was involved with the study, is quoted saying, “Although we cannot infer a causal relationship between coffee drinking and lower risk of death, we believe these results do provide some reassurance that coffee drinking does not adversely affect health.”

There are over 1000 compounds in coffee that could affect your health, adversely or otherwise, not just caffeine. In fact, the study seemed to show that caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee drinkers exhibited similar results.

There seemed to be quite a few other qualifiers in the article, including that the study relied on a self-reported indication of coffee drinking at only one point. This therefore doesn’t take into account the effects of long-term coffee consumption. The way the coffee was prepared was also not taken into account.

To me, it seems like the study is far from conclusive and hardly tells us any solid facts about drinking coffee. More research needs to be done to truly prove that coffee may be good for you. What do you think?

[Via Science Daily | Drinking Coffee Picture: Bigstockphoto.com]