My husband and our housekeeper cannot function without having at least one cup of coffee (espresso) in the morning.
By mid morning my husband would have had about three!
Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world. Some 2.25 billion cups are consumed every day believe it or not!
Is he a coffee aficionado? Perhaps. Is he a coffee addict? Well our two girls seem to think so!
Just like other coffee lovers he claims drinking the bitter liquid makes life worth living!
So from my part I have often cautioned him about drinking too much coffee, saying it cannot be that good for a human.
Well now I guess I know that I cannot argue about its goodness anymore, because according to two recent studies...those who drank about three cups a day tended to live longer than non-coffee drinkers.
The first study, led by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and Imperial College London, examined more than half a million people across 10 countries in Europe.
The second study included more than 180,000 participants of various ethnic backgrounds in the US.
It found benefits to longevity whether the coffee was caffeinated or decaffeinated.
“We found that higher coffee consumption was associated with a lower risk of death from any cause and specifically for circulatory diseases and digestive diseases,” says lead author Marc Gunter of the IARC.
“Importantly, these results were similar across all of the 10 European countries, with variable coffee drinking habits and customs.”
Coffee drinkers had a lower risk of death due to heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and respiratory and kidney disease.
Those who drank one cup a day were 12 per cent less likely to die compared to those who didn’t drink coffee.
Those who drank two or three cups per day saw an even higher 18pc reduced risk of death.
Many prior studies have hailed the benefits of coffee-drinking, saying the beverage imparts anti-oxidants, may improve liver function and reduce inflammation.
But coffee may carry risks for some people and pregnant women and children are urged to avoid caffeine, which can be fatal in high doses.
A report from the IARC last year said drinking very hot beverages like coffee, tea or otherwise was one probable cause of cancer of the esophagus, the tube that runs from the throat to the stomach.
So I guess, until another study pops up saying otherwise, all you coffee lovers...drink up!