Drinking coffee can keep you from dying prematurely, according to a new study. Writing in the journal Circulation, researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, found that people who drink between three and five cups of coffee a day may prevent death from certain illnesses. Even decaffeinated coffee staved off death from cardiovascular disease, neurological diseases, type 2 diabetes, and suicide, the researchers found.
"Bioactive compounds in coffee reduce insulin resistance and systematic inflammation," said first author Ming Ding, a doctoral student in the Department of Nutrition. "That could explain some of our findings. However, more studies are needed to investigate the biological mechanisms producing these effects."
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The large study of about 200,000 subjects included data from three ongoing studies. Subjects filled out questionnaires about their coffee drinking habits every four years over a 30-year period. Researchers said that during the study, 19,524 women and 12,432 men died "from a range of causes."
They found that moderate coffee drinking was "associated with reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease, and suicide." No link between coffee drinking and cancer was found. Researchers took into account other habits such as smoking, obesity, activity levels, alcohol consumption, and diet.
"This study provides further evidence that moderate consumption of coffee may confer health benefits in terms of reducing premature death due to several diseases," said senior author Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology. "These data support the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Report that concluded that 'moderate coffee consumption can be incorporated into a healthy dietary pattern.'" (VOA/JC)
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