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Trish Hamilton / FeaturePics.com
Men who drank six cups of coffee or more a day had a 10 percent lower risk of dying; for women, it was 15 percent lower, according to a large new study.
Coffee drinkers who worry about the jolt of java it takes to get them going in the morning might just as well relax and pour another cup.
That’s according to the largest-ever analysis of the link between coffee consumption and mortality, which suggests that latte lovers had a lower risk of death during the study period.
“I would say it offers some reassurance to coffee drinkers,” said Neal Freedman, a nutritional epidemiology researcher at the National Cancer Institute. “Other studies have suggested a higher risk of mortality with coffee drinking and we didn’t see that in our study.”
In fact, men who drank at least six cups of coffee a day had a 10 percent lower chance of dying during the 14-year study period than those who drank none. For women, the risk was 15 percent lower, according to Freedman’s work, published in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Reassuring, indeed, for hard-core coffee drinkers like Spencer Turer, who guzzles four to six cups of coffee every day for personal consumption -- and sips between 75 and 300 cups more as part of his job as a professional coffee taster.
“It’s good news for all coffee drinkers because we can feel really good about the decisions we’re making,” said Turer, director of coffee operations for the firm Coffee Analysts, which provides unbiased scientific review of coffee products. “People concerned about the health effects may choose to drink more coffee.”
Overall, in the U.S. about 64 percent of adults drink coffee daily, according to Joe DeRupo, spokesman for the National Coffee Association. At 3.2 cups a piece, that amounts to some 479 million cups a day, agency figures indicate.
Those coffee fans can take the new results seriously. The mortality reduction is modest but solid, said Freedman, whose study offered the size and power to document associations other researchers had only suspected.
He and his team in NIC’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics reviewed the coffee habits of more than 402,000 people followed between 1995 and 2008, including more than 52,000 who died.
They included some 229,000 men and more than 173,000 women ages 50 to 71 who agreed to take part in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, which tracked comprehensive lifestyle questionnaires filled out by people in six states and two metropolitan areas.
Freedman’s analysis centered on healthy people; those with cancer, heart disease and stroke were excluded from the review.
“We didn’t know what to expect,” recalled Freedman. “There have been a lot of studies and the results have been mixed.”
Previous studies suggested that coffee might contribute to heart disease; others found similar results to Freedman’s, that coffee actually cut the risk of death. Initially, even Freedman’s study indicated a higher risk of death among coffee drinkers, but only because so many of them smoked cigarettes, too.
“It was only after we took into account people’s smoking that the association, the inverse association, revealed itself,” he said. “Smoking has a really strong association with death.”
Drinking six or more cups of coffee a day cut mortality risk the most, but not by much. People who drank between two and five cups of coffee daily also appeared to have lower risk, the study showed. Whether the coffee contained caffeine or not didn't seem to matter.
It's not clear whether -- or where -- the mortality effect tops out, but Freedman wasn't advising anyone to gulp 12 cups a day to test the theory.
The link to lower mortality held up whether researchers considered total deaths or deaths from specific diseases and other causes – except for cancer. When it came to cancer, deaths were slightly higher among male coffee drinkers.
Why? “We don’t know,” Freedman said.
The researchers also couldn’t say whether the lower risk of death could be because sick people and those with chronic diseases don’t tend to drink coffee.
Freedman is quick to emphasize that his study is an observational study, so it can note apparent ties between coffee drinking and decreased risk of death, but it can’t say whether coffee is the cause.
It might not even be the coffee itself that engenders the effect. Perhaps there's something about the act of making, serving or drinking coffee that protects people from death. It may be a soothing ritual, for instance, or it could engender more social contact, acts associated with lower risk of death.
Of course, there could be something beneficial about the drink itself, antioxidants, perhaps, or other elements that experts haven't detected yet.
"Coffee has more than 1,000 compounds and we really don't know what effects those compounds have on health," he said.
The study will be cheered as excellent news by coffee drinkers, especially healthy people and those in the six-cups-a-day crowd. But Freedman urges others to check with their doctors and use common sense.
“I don’t want people to read this and say, ‘Oh, I’m going to drink more coffee because I don’t want to die,’” he said. “We just don’t know whether it’s cause or effect.”
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Less likely to die? Strange headline, since we are all 100% going to die, no matter what.
Exactly what i thought!
64% of Americans Regularly Drink Coffee
100% of Americans eventually DIE
LOL
My thoughts exactly
Ditto. Everyone dies. No one is 'less likely' to. What do they teach in journalism school these days?
You're missing the point. The difference is "die" (e.g., of natural causes) versus "be killed" (e.g., being cranky from too much coffee and getting what you deserve).
What happened to eternity .... ??
Less likely to die than non-coffee drinkers DURING THE STUDY PERIOD. That is normally the way the results of a study are presented, because that is what the scientists measured. I wish they would actually teach the scientific method in schools because then people would understand what these studies are measuring. But this is America home of true believers, so not much hope for that.
Don' be so ignorant. The study is not measuring likelyhood of ever dying. Duh. They measured people who were otherwise similar (age, gender, race, livelihood, home location) but who differed in their consumption of coffee and then looked to see who died DURING THE STUDY PERIOD. It's called the "Experimental Method" and it should be taught in high school. Without it we would have no modern medicine. Thank goodness some people take science in school. The reporter does not have to report this. Educated people understand that a published study will use this kind of methodology to report results. They are also not saying you will not die if you personally drink coffee. These are aggregated results.
This is old news.
Scandanavian studies had pinned this a decade ago...
I have NEVER been cranky because of too much coffee. It's the reverse.
There is a strict rule in my household: never, EVER talk to me until after I've had my first cup of the day. You might suffer bodily harm if you do.
Except in fiction, then it's 99% (since fiction has rare immortal characters).
Also, I suspect this is like those "drink wine it's good for you" claims. That is, it's hyped by the people trying to sell the product. At least a few people I've heard of had cancer, and then stopped drinking coffee for like a week, and it "mysteriously" went away. Coincidence?
MSNBC = douche bag city.
This is why I don't listen to most of these studies. Wasn't it just a few years ago that they were telling us that coffee would kill you, sort of like the eggs will kill you from about 10 years ago.
Aha! The fountain of youth...coffee. I too noticed the death avoidance aspects of coffee. Great. Now I know I won't die because I do indeed drink coffee. Whew, that's a relief. I was almost certain that at some point I was going to die, thank god for coffee, now I can live forever and ever and ever....
another loss for the Tea Potty and Sarah Pain In the Arse.
These studies are crazy.
When I used to go to doctors with pains in legs, doctors used to hammer me high coffee usage and caffeine in coffee.
So I had to cut down to two half cups!
Is it worth it to live longer if you can't sleep?
Really? Coffee Analysts provides "unbiased" scientific review of coffee products? If you believe that, then I have swamp land in Florida to sell you.
UrbnPrsn - the poorly worded headline has absolutely nothing to do with the scientific method. I teach college chemistry and know the scientific method. To use the headline "Coffee lovers less likely to die, study finds" merely emphasizes poor journalism on the part of the author who wrote the article.
Is this why Juan Valdez has been doing commercials for 100 years and never changes?
i have been drinking coffee--strong coffee for 50 years. thru the years the news has carried reports that coffee causes cancer / high blood pressure and a range of other false claims. i have had excellent health all my life and i start my day every day with 3 large cups of maxwell house or folgers. works for me! oh and a side note----i am still very likely to die--preferably in my sleep with my cat snuggled up to me.
The next thing is they'll tell you smoking is good for you (I wish)
After 5 years of not smoking, I am STILL looking for a decent tasting cup of coffee
What a worthless article. If they say "We don't know why" how seriously can we take the study? Also my doctor told me to drink as little caffeinated coffee as possible - and it doesn't say whether the study used caffeinated or de-caf coffee.
AHA! So coffee is the long sought after "fountain of youth"? What a stupid headline.
ROFL...The headline might just as well as said "Drink Coffee, Live Forever."
"...less likely to die"??
I'll drink to that.
Unless I die before my morning coo-aww-fee, then you can stick a fork in my butt and turn me over.
The research was financed by coffee producers, just the same way economists paid off by Wall Street to report good news so you would buy their useless crap stocks - contributing to the financial crisis.
Well at least drinking too much coffee is simply 'substance' abuse, not going to bring down the global economy, only waking you up to face painful reality.
oh yeah and most people are fat, so they will die sooner of other things than coffee? What are they saying?
Who put out "this" article, I wonder... Starbucks? Does anybody actually believe 6 cups of coffe a day is good for anyone??
A red flag went up when I saw that the study excluded people with heart disease and stroke.
From the article:
"Freedman’s analysis centered on healthy people; those with cancer, heart disease and stroke were excluded from the review."
According to WebMD.com regarding a similar 2002 study:
"Even more troubling, the researchers concluded that the equivalent of four cups of coffee [when given caffeine vs. the placebo] raises blood pressure for many hours. Although the increases appear modest, they are large enough to affect heart attack and stroke risk, says lead author James D. Lane, PhD. The findings were reported in the July/August issue of the journal Psychosomatic Medicine."
I think ShellBell300 is correct and that Starbucks or a company in the coffee industry financed this study. I suspect that "someone" precluded people with high blood pressure as a way to contrast it with earlier studies.
So, a more accurate title might be: "Coffee lovers with low blood pressure less likely to die during study time"
ShellBell300,
(Raising hand) Ooh! Ooh!! Ooh! I do! I do!
Seriously, whenever one reads that scientists are looking to prove something, be sure that they will always succeed in making some connection somewhere. REAL science tests to find results, whatever they might be, and then reports them honestly and without propaganda spin. If it is propagandized then you should ignore it and throw it out. The same for "tests" that are obviously rigged to bring about the results that the "scientists" favor. Chuck 'em
This bulletin just in: "You'll die, whether you drink coffee or not".
Make up your mind ....
My favorite cup of joe is kona. Kens pancake house in hilo Hawaii serves a mean cup along with some fresh pancakes and real butter , oh and some coconut syrup. Yum Yum...You will still die but at least you have tasted heaven . ;-)
You are less likely to die because being WIDE AWAKE you are statistically less likely to get in an auto accident, less likely to fall down the stairs, less likely to be depressed and commit suicide, less likely to get hit by a bus while crossing the street, and less likely to accident-ly consume rat poison.
As a bonus you are more likely to be up at this hour reading an article like this and responding on newsvine.
Retired. I never drank a cup of coffee until I was on a vacation in KONA Kailua in 79. I was at the KONA INN and the waitress poured me a cup and insisted I 'try' it. Genuine local Kona. I got addicted right then and have spent many thousands $$ on good coffee. My only habit so I got off easy and enjoyed a lot of joe since.
And, you got to meet Camron Diaz 50+ times!!!!
Never met Camron Diaz, but i did meet Don Ho, my daughter even sang tiny bubbles with him on stage. Mike good post, good coffee grown in America seen it with my own eyes.
Is Ken's Pancake House in Kauai? I went to a place like that and had the best cup of coffee (yes, Kona), and I remember the coconut syrup. I've been trying to remember the name of it for years. Best morning ever.
Not unless they branched out. The Kens i ate at was on the big island . I have been to kauai though . I do not remember eating anywhere special there, but the capt zodiac cruise was cool.
http://onokinegrindz.typepad.com/ono_kine_grindz/2007/01/kens_house_of_p.html
In other words, this study is of absolutely no value.
This study had more robustness, which means, a larger sample, better analysis of the co-variants like smoking. that is what the article is saying. That it's better than the other studies. But, of course, you have to know something about scientific methodology to understand that. Otherwise you read what you want to read.
Correlation can have plenty of value, even absent causation. I'd explain, but I've got fresh ground beans in the French press.
UrbnPrsn, there was one variable I remember learning about scientific methodology. It was that some researchers are looking so hard for a particular outcome, that even if it only shows up once in the whole batch, they take it as proof of their hypothesis.
Mercury - UrbnPrsn knows nothing about scientific methodology or he/she would not have overlooked the statements shown above in which even one of the investigators involved in the study admits that it's not possible to attribute the lower death rate specifically to coffee. The scientistsinvolved understand the flaws in their study. UrbnPrsn doesn't, so therefore does not understand scientific methodology.
This study was funded by Starbucks!
I'll take a Grande Fountain of Youth Latte
My experience is that people who drink more coffee are also more energetic, and tend to substitute meals with coffee, which has 0 calories. It could be the caffeine makes people more likely to exercise or eat less junk food, or speeds up metabolism (the last, at least is proven), or it could just be that people who are naturally inclined to be healthy get a bigger reward from coffee for some reason. I'm mosty a tea-drinker, and I know that when I drink more tea I feel more mentally in-tune, and take in fewer calories. I doubt it has anything to do with the tea itself, and more to do with what I've substituted it for or am otherwise doing in thinking about my health.
The problem with these corellation studies is that there is not enough information to accurately gauge what other factors might be involved. There's no use in drawing any kind of applicable conclusions with them, and I wish the media would quit hyping them like they're really a breakthrough.
Coffee only has 0 calories if you don't put milk/cream/creamer and sugar in it. I don't know anyone who drinks it straight like that. I'm a light'n sweet drinker, but the coffee must be strong enough to pour itself into my cup. I like dark, bold roasts, which feel like melted chocolate in your mouth when properly prepared.
Regarding your tea drinking-- you would be correct to attribute your feeling of mental in-tune-ness to the tea itself. Black and oolong teas have caffeine in it, giving you a little lift. Green and white teas have important antioxidants and compounds that help in maintaining good health, partially because of the limited amount of processing the leaves go through from tree to cuppa. AND the mind-over-matter --what you've substituted tea-drinking for and the stuff you are otherwise thinking/doing about your health--has an impact on your feeling of well-being too. If it's working for you, keep it up!
You may not know me, but I drink it like it as brewed. On a midnight-shift there is never any creamer or maybe sugar or anything other than Java.... Ya get used to drinking what ya got.. which is coffee.. plain and simple.
You may be right about the lack of information drawn from these short-term 15 year studies concerning this subject.
I have been drinking two pots of coffee (black) for over 50 years - I am now 71. But, since I also smoke, never intentially engage in physical exercise, sleep on average only 6 hours, never gain or lose weight (155 lbs, 6'2" since high school) eat whatever and however much I please, and have one or two cocktails every day, I would probably have never been selected for this study.
So, you may be right about the term limits on 15-year or even 50-year studies. Perhaps 500 years would be more reliable for information gleaned from these studies to be considered reasonably reliable. Subject to further studies, of course.
This headline is ridiculous. Everyone dies, eventually. MSNBC, is it really this slow of a news day? Are you getting desperate for page hits?
What do they mean "they don't know why"?? I always believed that the coffee bean is a lot like a cocoa bean and that it had plenty of antioxidants that are good for you. Wouldn't that possibly be a reason?
Hey, folks. If you'll read the story, this was actually the largest-ever study of coffee consumption and mortality, an analysis well-powered enough to show a reduction in risk of death during the study period. Yes, it's observational, so it can't show causation. But the results are pretty solid in the world of coffee research.
In other words, there is no information content in this story. duh! It's only been posted to entice us to click on it to up your revenue--is that right?
There is information content. They have to see a correlation before they can come up with a way to detect causation. Why would you waste time and money trying to find out if coffee helps increase lifespan if you don't know if there is a correlation to suggest that in the first place?
So in other words, the article is saying it has been scientifically discovered that there is a CORRELATION between coffee drinking and an increased life span. My guess would be that researchers are now trying to deduce a way to appropriately test the correlation (aka hypothesis) to see if it is right.
So during the study , everyone drinking coffee was alive .... ??
Just kidding JoNel Aleccia ....
I love my coffee ....
And , your cute ....
Another educated person! Finally! Thank you!
Hey, I don't know about y'all but this study is arbitrary enough for me!
Cheers! (Psst, I got ya covered JoNel !)
Uhhhh JoNel, I'm really beginning to believe that there is no fountain of youth, so if the key word here is "during", I'll gladly volunteer for.... lets say a fifty year coffee study. ;-)
The keywords here are "during the study period". If one places time limits on the period of study, it's possible to "prove" just about anything.
JoNel, we all know that 2 years from now they will retract the study because a newer one shows you will die very early from drinking too much coffee. lol, happens every time.
Yes! I'm immortal! Oh the fun I will have. Thanks coffee!
I hope you look that good when you are about 200 years old ....
According to the trolls, yes, you will be immortal. Now I think I will go drink some more coffee.
well goodie....I drink a pot of coffee a day, and have for years. Sure don't plan to stop anytime soon. :)
Who could not love a good fresh cup of coffee ....
All Hail the Coffee Bean.
"Coffee get you going" on the crapper.
No, you have to hold it in for the Immortal thing to work. No matter how bad it gets.
"Freedman’s analysis centered on healthy people; those with cancer, heart disease and stroke were excluded from the review." "The researchers also couldn’t say whether the lower risk of death could be because sick people and those with chronic diseases don’t tend to drink coffee." ; )
Starbucks will be busy tomorrow .... "LOL"
Nice misleading title. We're all likely to die. I can 100% bet on it.
Simply amazing. Over the years we have heard many such reports. Do this and you will die. Then a few years later another study says that is wrong. For all those so call scientist out there. Your scaring the hell out of everyone. That's what more apr to send someone to an early grave. I recommend that you do whatever makes you feel good. ( within the laws and being respectful of others) Relax and enjoy life to the best of your ability. One day we all will die. SOme sooner than others. Quit worrying about it. Have a good day!
Next time my wife gripes because I spend too much money on coffee I will just show her this story. I'm drinking coffee for health reasons only
I probably get around 3-4 people a week who come see me for insomnia. Every one of them drinks coffee or some form of caffeine. When I get them off of caffeine, even just that habitual cup or two in the morning which seems could not possibly make that much of a difference, they invariably sleep better, requiring less hours of sleep to get better quality sleep. Then, most of the time I can take away their Ambien, Prozac, and whatever other psych drugs they happen to be on
Caffeine is not the miracle drug the press makes it out to be. I wonder who sponsored the research behind the studies that were analyzed. Could it have been coffee companies?
Having said that, I'm still having my cup or two of joe in the morning. I'm just making it decaf.
Ambien is not a "psych drug"
You show me your medical degree and I'll show you mine. It's a psychotropic drug classified under sedative-hypnotic. Now go back to your coffee.
RackNShack, are you saying there is a connection between caffeine and psychiatric issues like depression, anxiety, and mood disorders?
I think that certain people, as with any substance, adversely react to caffeine. I've had more than one person see me as a new patient that's had a arm's length list of medications they've tried for sleep, but not once did anyone tell them that maybe their caffeine, even in doses I wouldn't consider significant, was part of the problem.
I'm saying that if someone is having significant insomnia issues, or frequent awakenings through the night, they should eliminate caffeine from their diet and give it a few weeks to equilibrate out and see where they stand. Not everyone who drinks coffee has insomnia, but my observation has been that virtually all insomniacs get caffeine somewhere in their diet. I have a few cups a day and I'm fine, but I have plenty of patients who can't even have a cup of it or it screws them up at night? Psychological? Maybe. But in the end, they sleep much better off caffeine with shorter sleep time, higher quality sleep, and overall that tends to heal the soul.
This article is pure bull@!$%#.
Just remember who grows coffee. The cocaine growers.
Drinking that sludge is not good for you.
If it makes your coffee pot look like it does imagine what it does to your insides.
Coffee is a joke, kids drink it to feel like an adult and it is stupid. Then they are addicted and can't function without coffee. Sounds just like what cigarettes do.
Absolutly nothing except making coffee companies rich.
gadgetman1966. Are you available for kid's parties? Cuz you seem to be a real "upper"...LOL. Just kidding....Kinda
Gagetman1966, go stick it in your ear! You are a real downer. Sorry you hate the taste of coffee, but millions of us happen to love it and nothing is going to change that fact. Isn't that too bad for you ?
Read his other comments. He hates everything.
LOL!! its hard to believe anyone can find a reason to be angry over a coffee article. Only on Newsvine.
Have a cup of coffee and relax, man.
Cool beans!
I'll take mine dark roasted.
God loves me . Her created coffee, pot, and taught St. Ganbrinus how to brew beer.
Do people still drink coffee? The beverages served at Starbucks aren't coffees - they're milkshakes with a little coffee flavoring. Black coffee has very few calories, a Starbucks shake is full of calories.
I'm tired of all of these studies; one weeks it's "everyone must cut their salt intake", the next it's "only people with hypertension need to monitor their salt intake." Every new study contradicts the previous one. I don't take any of them seriously.
Dan21228... what you just said is sooooo stupid, I can tell you've never liked the flavor of coffee. Not all coffee drinkers go to "Starbucks" for one thing, and yes... coffee is still as popular as ever before. I've noticed that the non-coffee drinkers that comment here whine and complain like fussy, spoiled children.
Get over it !!!
Dan, when I go to Starbucks I actually just drink plain coffee. And its extremely strong coffee.
All goes back to being moderate in what we put into our bodies.
A lab rat you can control way more variables than with a human subject. Unless every aspect of someones lives were tightly controlled these kinds of studies can't be very accurate. Ther are simply too many varialbles!
I'll drink to that...