Coffee, Even a Lot, Linked to Longer Life
Scientists wake up and smell the apparent health benefits
Coffee is powerful stuff. Researchers discovered earlier this year that just a whiff is enough to increase the body’s arousal levels, helping jonesers wake up and feel focused. Yet purported links to cancer, poor heart health, and shorter lives have percolated for decades. Now, better-brewed studies are debunking the previous bad news and linking coffee — even several cups a day — to specific health benefits and longer life.
One new study revealed that, contrary to prior research, drinking coffee isn’t thought to stiffen the arteries, which can force the heart to work harder and lead to a heart attack or stroke.
Researchers pored through a database of 8,412 people who had MRI heart scans and other cardiovascular tests and who answered questions about their coffee consumption. They found there was no difference in the stiffening of arteries among the people who said they had less than a cup a day versus those who drank one to three, or even four to five cups. Several people in the study reported drinking more than 25 cups per day — which generated a flurry of media coverage — but those people were excluded from the study.
“Whilst we can’t prove a causal link in this study, our research indicates coffee…
