Coffee.Photo: Getty
Those daily cups of joedo more than just wake you up — according to a new study, drinking multiple cups of coffee a dayis linked to a lower risk of death.
In a study of more than 170,000 people, those who drank 1.5 to 3.5 cups of coffee a day were significantly less likely to die during the study period than those who foregoed the hit of java.
Researchers checked in with the study participants, who ranged in age from 37 to 73 years old, up to five times over the course of a year to monitor their coffee intake, health and lifestyle habits. They then circled back with them again after seven years.
The researchers found that people who drank 1.5 to 3.5 cups of coffee a day — even with a teaspoon of sugar — had up to a 30% lower risk of death than non-coffee drinkers. People who drank unsweetened coffee were 16 to 21% less likely to die during the study period. And those who drank the higher end of that range, 3 cups a day, had the lowest risk of death compared to people who skip coffee.
Wee cautioned, though, that the study,published in theAnnals of Internal Medicine, had limitations because the link is observational, and they cannot prove that coffee directly reduced the participants' risk of death.
“Biologically, it is plausible that coffee could actually confer some direct health benefits,“she told NBC News.But, “we can’t say for sure that it’s the coffee drinking per se that leads to the lower mortality risk.”
RELATED VIDEO: How a Cup of Coffee Helps Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood Keep Their Romance Alive
The study follows many others, though,that have also found a link between drinking coffee and reduced mortality.
Wee said that she is “more confident that we can say that coffee drinking is likely not harmful, maybe a little bit beneficial.”
Wee also pointed out that though people who drank their coffee with a teaspoon of sugar still reaped the benefits, that does not mean people should think “‘Oh, I can drink any kind of coffee with loads of calories,’ " she said.
“What this study is really saying is that adding a little bit of sugar doesn’t take away all the potential health benefits that coffee might have,” Wee said.
source: people.com
