And we found that people who drink moderate amounts of coffee have lower risk of [death] from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, neurologic disease [such as Parkinson’s] and suicide.
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To conduct the study, Harvard researchers analyzed information extracted from 74,890 women in the Nurses’ Health Study, 93,054 women in the Nurses’ Health Study 2, and 40,557 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.
Researchers started with data from surveys of adults in the United States that asked how much coffee they consumed, as well as other foods and drinks, and then they looked at their rates of death and disease over the following two decades.
They say there are “several plausible biological mechanisms” by which coffee might benefit health, including substances in coffee which reduce resistance to insulin and calm inflammation in the body. However, Senior Cardiac Nurse at the British Heart Foundation, Emily Reeve, told The Independent: “It is important to remember that maintaining a healthy lifestyle is what really matters if you want to keep your heart healthy, not how much coffee you drink”.
Claire Bale, head of research communications at Parkinson’s United Kingdom, said: “Further investigation is needed to find out if coffee could genuinely help us fight Parkinson’s”. Drinking chamomile tea lowered the risk of death from all causes among the women by 29 percent, compared with those who did not drink this tea.
In general, people who frequently drank coffee were more likely to smoke and drink alcohol.
The lowest likelihood, corresponding to a 15% drop in mortality, was encountered among participants who drank between 3 and 5 cups of regular or decaf coffee on a daily basis. In that case, it might not be worth not drinking the coffee.
And experts warned that coffee – a substance adored by many devotees – may not be right for everyone.
Most previous coffee research still shows a link between coffee drinking and positive effects, like decreased risk of stroke and Type 2 diabetes.
Throughout the ages, coffee has been called a virtue and a vice for our health.
“Regular consumption of coffee can be included as part of a healthy, balanced diet”.
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Other studies have even suggested that coffee may be linked to health problems. “[People] should not feel guilty about moderate coffee consumption”.
