COFFEE: MAY EXTEND LIFE

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COFFEE: MAY EXTEND LIFE







A new study from Tufts University suggests that your daily cup of black coffee could be doing more than just waking you up—it might also help you live longer. Researchers analyzed data from nearly 46,000 U.S. adults. They found that drinking one to three cups of caffeinated coffee per day is linked to a lower risk of death from any cause, especially heart-related conditions. But there’s a catch: the benefits appear to decline when you add a lot of sugar and cream.

The study, published in The Journal of Nutrition, focused on how coffee consumption—along with the amount of added sweeteners and saturated fat—relates to mortality risk. Participants who drank black coffee or coffee with minimal sugar and saturated fat saw a 14% reduction in their risk of dying from any cause, compared to those who didn’t drink coffee at all. In contrast, people who added high amounts of sugar and cream didn’t see the same benefit.

“Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world, so understanding its health effects is important,” said Fang Fang Zhang, the study’s senior author and a professor at Tufts. “Our findings suggest that coffee’s potential health benefits may be lost if you add too much sugar or saturated fat.”

Researchers examined data from nine National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycles, spanning from 1999 to 2018, and linked it to mortality records. Coffee consumption was categorized by type (caffeinated or decaf), and sugar and saturated fat levels were also included. The study defined “low” added sugar as less than 2.5 grams per 8-ounce cup and “low” saturated fat as 1 gram per cup.

Drinking at least one cup of coffee daily was associated with a 16% lower risk of death from any cause, and consuming two to three cups per day increased that figure to 17%. Drinking more than three cups didn’t seem to provide extra benefits, and the positive link to heart health faded at higher amounts. The researchers found no significant association between coffee consumption and cancer mortality.

The study is notable for quantifying the amount of sugar and cream people add to their coffee and showing that these extras can affect the health impact of coffee. “Most previous research hasn’t looked at how additives change the relationship between coffee and mortality risk,” said lead author Bingjie Zhou, a recent Ph.D. graduate from Tufts.

The findings also align with existing dietary guidelines, which recommend limiting the consumption of added sugar and saturated fat. Still, the researchers noted some limitations: the study relied on participants’ self-reported food intake, which can vary daily, and decaf coffee was less commonly consumed, making it harder to analyze its effects.

Other contributors to the study included Yongyi Pan, Lu Wang, and Mengyuan Ruan, all of whom are affiliated with Tufts. The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.

For more details, see the published study in The Journal of Nutrition.

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