People who drink coffee, with or without sugar, appear to have a lower risk of premature death, although experts warn that the finding may not be due to the beer itself.
In the UK, around 98 million cups of coffee are drunk every day, according to the British Coffee Association, and the National Coffee Association revealed that in the US the figure is around 517 million cups.
Previous studies have suggested that the drink may be beneficial to health, as coffee consumption is associated with a lower risk of suffering from diseases ranging from chronic liver disease to certain cancers and even dementia.
Now, Chinese researchers have found that people who drank a moderate amount of coffee each day, sweetened with sugar or not, had a lower risk of death over a seven-year period than those who did not.
Similar results were found for instant, ground and decaffeinated coffee.
The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, is based on data from more than 171,000 participants at the UK BioBank, which has collected genetic, lifestyle and health information from more than 500,000 people since it began in 2006, including details of the participants. coffee drinking habits.
The team used data from death certificates to track participants for an average period of seven years from 2009, during which 3,177 people died.
After considering factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, educational level, smoking status, amount of physical activity, body mass index, and diet, the team found that, compared to those who did not drink beer, people who drank sugar-free coffee had the lowest risk of death.
The largest reduction, a 29% lower risk of death, was observed for those who drank between 2.5 and 4.5 cups a day.
Reductions in the risk of death were also observed for coffee sweetened with sugar, at least for those who drank between 1.5 and 3.5 cups a day. The trend was less clear to people who used artificial sweeteners.
However, the study asked participants about drinking coffee and other habits only once and relied on the self-report. Most people who used sugar only added a tablespoon to their drink, which means it’s unclear if the results would hold up for special coffees high in sugar.
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Naveed Sattar, a professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow who did not take part in the work, warned that the findings, though intriguing, were unclear.
“The observational nature of this new study means that these conclusions are far from definitive,” he said.
“This is because coffee drinkers are generally richer and have healthier lives than non-drinkers, and I’m not convinced if these factors can be overcome in observational studies.” Professor Sattar added that genetic evidence did not link coffee to any significant health benefits.
“I would suggest that people stick to coffee or tea, preferably sugar-free, which most people can adapt to, and try to do all the other things we know that keep you healthy: move more, eat more and sleep better. “
In an attached editorial, Dr. Christina Wee, the journal’s assistant editor, agreed that the findings were inconclusive. But, he added, it seemed that drinking coffee, either without sugar or with a modest amount of sugar, was probably not harmful to most people.
“So drink it, but it would be prudent to avoid too many caramel macchiatos while more evidence is produced,” he wrote.