Does coffee lower the risk of premature death?
Coffee (2 to 4 cups per day, preferably in the morning and without much sugar) is associated with a lower risk of premature death, but this is an association, not a proven cause. Pregnant women are better off avoiding coffee.
People who drink 2 to 4 cups of coffee per day have, across several large review studies, an approximately 15 to 17% lower risk of premature death than people who drink no coffee at all. The lowest risk is found at around 3.5 cups per day. This association holds regardless of age, weight or smoking status, and also applies to decaffeinated coffee.
The picture is similar for cardiovascular disease. Coffee drinkers have a 17 to 19% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular causes, including heart failure and stroke. For heart rhythm disorders and blood pressure, coffee appears to be neutral. In the area of cancer, the protective effect is smaller: at 2 cups per day, the data point to a modest reduction of around 4% in cancer mortality.
The timing of consumption appears to matter. A large American study with more than 40,000 participants found that people who drink coffee mainly in the morning had a 16% lower risk of all-cause mortality, and even a 31% lower risk of cardiovascular mortality, compared with non-coffee drinkers. This advantage was not found in people who drank coffee throughout the day. This is a single study; confirmation is still lacking.
How you drink your coffee also matters. Black coffee and coffee with little sugar provide a protective effect. With coffee containing a lot of sugar or cream-like additions, that benefit disappears at higher levels of consumption.
There are clear exceptions. During pregnancy, coffee is not safe: high consumption substantially increases the risk of low birth weight, preterm birth and miscarriage. In women, there is also a signal that coffee increases the risk of bone fractures, although this is not seen in men. Furthermore, caffeine can cause feelings of anxiety, sleep problems, palpitations and a temporarily raised blood pressure. Finally, all the evidence comes from observational research. Whether coffee itself is the cause of a longer life has not been proven.
Evidence based on multiple meta-analyses and large cohort studies (up to nearly 4 million participants); no randomised trials are available for the mortality outcomes. Causality has not been established.
Is coffee good or bad for your heart?
For most healthy adults, three to four filtered cups per day are associated with a beneficial effect on the heart and blood vessels. Pregnant women are an important exception: for them, the maximum is one to two cups per day.
Is coffee healthy or unhealthy?
For healthy adults, moderate coffee consumption (3 to 5 cups per day) is more likely to be healthy than unhealthy; if you are pregnant or prone to anxiety, moderation or consultation with your doctor is advisable.
Does lowering my blood pressure really reduce my risk?
Lowering blood pressure genuinely works: your risk of stroke and other cardiovascular problems demonstrably decreases. Exercise and dark chocolate also provide a modest additional benefit.
Does sitting all day increase your risk of heart problems?
Sitting a lot increases your risk of heart failure and heart-related mortality, even if you exercise regularly. Just 30 minutes less sitting per day produces a measurable improvement, so try to break up long periods of sitting regularly.
Does gratitude or optimism benefit your health and longevity?
Greater optimism is associated in several large, long-running studies with a substantially lower risk of cardiovascular mortality and a greater chance of healthy ageing. These are associations, not proven cause and effect, but the pattern is remarkably consistent and its magnitude is large enough to take seriously.
Does losing weight noticeably improve my blood pressure and cholesterol?
Losing weight noticeably lowers your blood pressure and improves your cholesterol profile, but which value improves the most depends on your diet. And if the weight comes back, most of the gains disappear along with it.