Coffee and Longevity: Do Coffee Drinkers Live Longer

Coffee is one of the healthiest beverages on the planet.
It contains hundreds of different compounds, some of which offer important health benefits.
Several large studies have shown that people who drank moderate amounts of coffee were less likely to die during the study period.
You may wonder whether this means that you’ll live longer if you drink a lot of coffee.
This short review tells you if drinking coffee can extend your life.

A Major Source of Antioxidants
When hot water runs through coffee grounds while brewing, the natural chemical compounds in the beans mix with the water and become part of the drink.
Many of these compounds are antioxidants that protect against oxidative stress in your body caused by damaging free radicals.
Oxidation is believed to be one of the mechanisms behind aging and common, serious conditions like cancer and heart disease.
Coffee happens to be the biggest source of antioxidants in the Western diet — outranking both fruits and vegetables combined (1, 2, 3Trusted Source).

People Who Drink Coffee Are Less Likely to Die Than Those Who Don’t
Several studies show that regular coffee intake is linked to a lower risk of dying from various serious diseases.
The sweet spot appeared to be a coffee intake of 4–۵ cups per day. At this quantity, men and women had a 12% and 16 % reduced risk of early death, respectively. Drinking 6 or more cups per day provided no additional benefit.
However, even moderate coffee consumption of just one cup per day was associated with a 5–۶% lowered risk of early death — showing that even a little bit is enough to have an effect.

Looking at particular causes of death, researchers found that coffee drinkers were less likely to die from infections, injuries, accidents, respiratory disease, diabetes, stroke, and heart disease (4).
Other more recent studies support these findings. Coffee intake seems to be consistently linked to a lower risk of early death (5Trusted Source, 6Trusted Source).

Many Other Studies Have Led to Similar Results
The effects of coffee on health have been studied very thoroughly in the past few decades.
At least two other studies have shown that coffee drinkers have a lower risk of premature death (7Trusted Source, 8Trusted Source).
Regarding specific diseases, coffee drinkers have a much lower risk of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, type 2 diabetes, and liver diseases — just to name a few (9Trusted Source, 10Trusted Source, 11Trusted Source, 12Trusted Source).

What’s more, studies show that coffee may make you happier, reducing your risk of depression and suicide by 20% and 53%, respectively (13Trusted Source, 14Trusted Source).
Thus, coffee may not only add years to your life but also life to your years.