Coffee drinkers have a lower risk of early death, study finds

01 Jun 2022 --- Consumers of coffee, with sugar or without, caffeinated or not, have a substantially lower risk of suffering an early death. Drinking between 1.5 to 4.5 cups a day lowers by around 30% the early mortality chances, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, based on data from over 171,616 participants.

“Previous observational studies have suggested an association between coffee consumption and reduced risk of death, but they did not distinguish between coffee consumed with sugar or artificial sweeteners and coffee consumed without them,” as seen in the study.

However, consumers might have worse access to this commodity and limit themselves to the lower range of 1.5 cups per day as coffee prices have risen over 5% since the start of the year and are at ten-year highs.

Study methodology
The team tracked participants for a median of seven years, choosing individuals with no cardiovascular disease or cancer. During the time of the study, 3,177 participant deaths occurred.

The dietary consumption of sugar-sweetened, artificially sweetened, and unsweetened coffee was self-reported. 

Among the participants, a majority (55.4%) drink coffee without any sweetener, 14% opt to consume it with sugar, and 6.1% drink it using artificial sweeteners. The remaining 24.2% don’t drink the beverage regularly.

As mentioned, the lower risk came to all coffee drinkers, regardless of caffeine or type of coffee –with the same results for ground and instant.

Over 55% of the total UK population drink coffee without any sweetener.However, results were inconclusive for participants that use artificial sweeteners.

Confounding variables
Given that the study is made in the UK, where tea is a similarly consumed beverage, some variables might impact the findings’ reliability, note the editors of Annals of Internal Medicine where the study was published.

Differences in socioeconomic status, diet and other lifestyle factors may also impact findings.

Furthermore, the average sugar consumed along coffee was self-reported to be one sugar spoon, which is way less than any coffee consumed at “popular coffee chain restaurants,” and participants would have not self-reported that correctly.

Consumers instinct on point
A study by the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee found that global searches for “health benefits of drinking coffee” have been through the roof and increased by 650% over the last 12 months.

The Institute also found that 42% of coffee drinkers increased their intake during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, an Australian study found a link between a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease and moderate coffee consumption. Coffee drinking also has general effects on lowering cognitive decline.

In another UK study with over 365,000 participants, coffee and tea was found to lower by 32% the risk of stroke and 28% the risk of dementia. Although opining on the study, Professor Tara Spires-Jones of the University of Edinburgh said that with the analyzed data, no conclusions could be drawn and more research had to be carried out:

“There could be other factors in people that drink tea and coffee that are the real influencers of disease risk.”

By Marc Cervera