Over the years there has been a bit of “thumbs up/thumbs down” rollercoaster ride when it comes to coffee drinking in health. Once thought to be an unhealthy habit, recent years have found the pendulum swinging back the other with quite a bit of research extoling the health benefits of your morning brew. The latest research follows suit, linking coffee drinking to healthier aging.
“Women who drank one to three cups of caffeinated coffee per day in their 50s were more likely to reach older age free from major chronic diseases and with good cognitive, physical, and mental health,” said lead study author Dr. Sara Mahdavi, adjunct professor in the faculty of medicine and department of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto.
Researchers analyzed dietary data from more than 47,000 women who were part of the Nurses’ Health Study, according to the research released on June 2 at the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition in Orlando. The study was presented as an abstract, but a more in-depth manuscript of the investigation will be submitted for peer review in the coming months, Mahdavi said.
The effects were found in caffeinated coffee in particular, according to the research. The same link was not found for tea or decaffeinated coffee — and drinking more cola or other caffeinated sodas did not seem to provide similar healthy aging effects.
“This would imply that coffee in particular has health preserving or promoting effects,” said Dr. David Kao, Jacqueline Marie Schauble Leaffer Endowed Chair in Women’s Heart Disease and associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical School, in an email. “As with other studies, they also appear to have found that coffee has a particular benefit over other caffeinated drinks.”
Koa added that he did not fine this link between coffee and healthy aging surprising –– it is consistent with prior research, she said. Moderate coffee drinking has been linked before to lower risks of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, he said.
Does this mean you should take on a coffee habit if you don’t have one already? Not necessarily, Mahdavi said.
“Coffee may support longevity, but it’s not a universal prescription — especially for women. Hormonal shifts influence how caffeine is metabolized, so the benefits depend on timing, biology, and individual health,” she said in an email to CNN.
“Moderate caffeinated coffee consumption — typically one to three cups per day — can be part of a healthy diet for many adults,” Mahdavi said. “However, this should not be taken as a blanket recommendation for everyone to begin or increase coffee intake with the goal of longevity,” she added.
