Drinking as many as eight cups of coffee a day could help you live longer. In a study of around half-a-million British adults, coffee drinkers were found to have a slightly lower risk of death over a 10-year follow-up period than non-coffee drinkers.
The new research, released Monday by JAMA Internal Medicine, found that drinking coffee, even more than 8 cups a day, was linked with a lower risk of death within a 10-year follow-up period.
However, the researchers stressed that the study only found an association with coffee and longevity and didn’t prove that coffee leads to a longer life.
NCI researchers analyzed information provided by approximately 500,000 people, who answered questions about coffee consumption, smoking and drinking habits, medical history and more.
Researchers tested ground and instant coffee, as well as various causes of death such as cancer and cardiovascular disease, and found that drinking coffee does not increase the risk of mortality.
Overall, coffee drinkers were found to be about 10 percent to 15 percent less likely to die than non-coffee drinkers during a decade of follow-up checks.
To be exact, drinking one cup of coffee a day had an 8 percent lower risk of early death, rising to 16 percent lower risk with six to seven cups a day, and then dropping a bit to 14 percent lower risk with eight or more cups a day.
“Our study provides further evidence that coffee drinking can be part of a healthy diet and offers reassurance to coffee drinkers,” Dr. Erikka Loftfield, the study’s lead investigator and a research fellow at the National Cancer Institute, told Time.
