Coffee Might Not Be Bad for Us and Actually Could Be Good!

In a long-term study, coffee drinkers had lower mortality rates than did nondrinkers; this difference was significant among women but not among men.

Coffee drinking has been linked to positive as well as negative health effects, but its association with long-term mortality has not been investigated directly. Investigators analyzed data from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (men; 18 years of follow-up) and the Nurses’ Health Study (women; 24 years of follow-up) to determine whether coffee intake was associated with rates of death from cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, and all causes.

Self-reported coffee consumption was assessed in 86,000 women and 42,000 men without histories of CVD or cancer at baseline. After adjustment for confounders — including age, smoking, and other CVD and cancer risk factors — relative risk for death from all causes by the end of follow-up was 7% low…

Reviewing Author

Ann J. Davis, MD