Drinking Coffee: A key to longevity?
This is a large observational study that therefore reveals associations between coffee consumption and equivalent reductions in the incidence of cardiovascular disease and death. Its lead author, Professor Peter Kistler of the Baker Heart and Diabetes Research Institute (Melbourne), concludes: “Our results suggest that light to moderate consumption of ground, instant and decaffeinated coffee should be considered part of a healthy lifestyle. healthy life”.
Coffee, marker and factor of a healthy lifestyle
There is little data on the impact of different types of coffee on heart health and survival. The study therefore examined the associations between different types of coffee consumed and the incidence of arrhythmias, coronary heart disease, heart failure, ischemic strokes and death using data from the UK Biobank.
The study: the analysis therefore focused on the data of 449,563 participants free of cardiovascular disease at the start, aged on average 58 years, 55% of them women, followed for more than 12 years. Participants were grouped into 6 coffee drinking groups based on the number of cups consumed per day. The type of coffee usually consumed was instant coffee for 44% of participants, ground for 18%, decaffeinated for 15%. The 23% who did not consume it formed the control group. Coffee drinkers were compared to non-drinkers for the incidence of various cardiovascular disorders. Analysis reveals after adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, smoking status, and tea and alcohol consumption :
6.2% participants died during the 12-year follow-up;
all types of coffee are associated with reduced deaths from all causes;
the greatest reduction in the risk of death is observed with a consumption of 2 to 3 cups of coffee per day: vs the absence of coffee consumption, 2 to 3 cups of coffee/day are associated with respective reductions of 14%, 27% and 11% for decaffeinated, ground and instant coffee;
cardiovascular disease was diagnosed in 9.6% of participants during the 12-year follow-up;
all coffee subtypes are associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease;
the greatest reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease is observed with a consumption of 2 or 3 cups per day, which, compared to abstinence from coffee, is found to be associated with a reduction of 6%, 20% and 9% respectively the incidence of cardiovascular disease for decaffeinated, ground and instant coffee;
arrhythmia was diagnosed in 6.7% participants during follow-up. Ground and instant coffee, but not decaffeinated, has been shown to be associated with a reduction in arrhythmias, including its most severe form, atrial fibrillation;
the lowest risks are observed with 4-5 cups per day for ground coffee and 2-3 cups per day for instant coffee, with risk reductions of 17% and 12% respectively.
While caffeine is the best-known constituent of coffee, more than 100 biologically active compounds may be involved in these risk reductions. Research is therefore still welcome to identify the most beneficial compounds, but, given the accumulation of positive evidence, drinking moderate amounts of coffee of all types can now be considered part of healthy and heart-healthy behaviors.
