Coffee drinkers can relax about their habit. Large studies tie three to four cups a day to lower risks of death, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Decaf shows similar patterns, so caffeine is likely not the whole story.
An umbrella review in the BMJ covering more than 200 meta-analyses found consumption of three to four cups a day carried the lowest observed risks for all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease, with the clearest exception being pregnancy (Poole et al., 2017). Half a million Europeans followed for 16 years drank coffee and died less often during follow-up, with the strongest inverse links seen in digestive illnesses (Gunter et al., 2017). In the UK Biobank the lower mortality held regardless of whether participants metabolised caffeine slowly or quickly, which blunts the usual objection that coffee drinkers are simply healthier to begin with (Loftfield et al., 2018). Moderate rather than strong, since nearly all of it is observational and no randomised trial tests coffee against death. Sugar-loaded coffee drinks are a different intervention entirely and inherit none of this.
Doing it: One to four cups a day, black or lightly milky. Keep the syrupy ones as occasional desserts rather than daily habits, and move your last cup earlier if sleep starts slipping.
Who it suits: Existing coffee drinkers, who can continue comfortably; there is no reason to start for health if you do not already enjoy it
Sources
- Poole R, et al. Coffee consumption and health: umbrella review of meta-analyses of multiple health outcomes. BMJ 2017.
- Gunter MJ, et al. Coffee Drinking and Mortality in 10 European Countries. Ann Intern Med 2017.
- Loftfield E, et al. Association of Coffee Drinking With Mortality by Genetic Variation in Caffeine Metabolism: Findings From the UK Biobank. JAMA Intern Med 2018.
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