Healthy aging: Drinking coffee can add years to your life

A comprehensive review has recently examined the scientific evidence surrounding coffee’s connection to healthy aging. The experts discovered that daily coffee consumption can add up to two years of healthy aging to our lives.

The percentage of people aged 65 and older worldwide is rapidly increasing, projected to grow from 10% in 2022 to 16% by 2050. 

The paper highlights how regular, moderate coffee consumption can be an essential component of a healthy and balanced lifestyle for this aging demographic.

For reference, the European Food Safety Authority considers daily caffeine intake of up to 400 mg – equivalent to three to five cups of coffee – to be moderate and safe for most adults. Pregnant and lactating women, however, should limit their intake to 200 mg per day.

Coffee and reduced mortality risk

Coffee, one of the most extensively studied commodities globally, has been linked in over 50 studies to a reduced risk of all-cause mortality. 

The research indicates that coffee can play a measurable role in lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory diseases, cognitive decline, and frailty.

The review revealed that regular coffee consumption may extend healthy living by an average of 1.8 years. This suggests that coffee not only contributes to longevity but also supports better health during those additional years. 

Unlike some nutritional interventions that may exhibit gender-specific effects, the increased healthy life expectancy associated with coffee consumption was observed in both men and women.

Coffee and biological aging 

Beyond reducing the risk of chronic diseases, the review delved into how coffee affects biological processes associated with aging. 

These mechanisms include mitigating genomic instability – cell mutations that contribute to aging – and improving regular cellular function. 

To ensure reliability, the review concentrated on studies involving humans and human tissue, providing a clearer picture of coffee’s health benefits.

The role of coffee in healthy aging 

Traditional clinical advice for older adults has often suggested reducing or even avoiding coffee consumption. However, the review suggests these guidelines should be reconsidered in light of growing evidence supporting coffee’s positive role in healthy aging.

“Traditional clinical recommendations have at times overlooked coffee’s role in healthy aging, but with a strong research base around how regular consumption can potentially reduce some of the most chronic diseases facing society, it is likely time to re-evaluate these,” said lead author Rodrigo Cuhno, an expert in biochemistry at the University of Coimbra.

“We know that the world’s population is aging faster than ever, which is why it’s increasingly important to explore dietary interventions which may allow people to not only live longer but also healthier lives.”

While caffeine is coffee’s most recognized component, it also contains over 2,000 bioactive compounds. Among these, polyphenols offer antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits, which may help reduce neuroinflammation and regulate insulin sensitivity.

Unanswered questions and future research

Although both caffeine and non-caffeine compounds in coffee contribute to extending healthy lifespan, much remains unknown about their exact mechanisms of action. 

The authors emphasize the need for further research to uncover how these compounds work and identify individuals who may benefit the most from coffee’s unique properties.

“Our review underlines the role regular, moderate coffee consumption can play in mediating against the biological mechanisms which naturally slow or fail as we get older – triggering a range of potential health issues and comorbidities,” said Cuhna. 

“And there is still room to understand more about exactly how these mechanisms work, as well as which individuals may be biologically predisposed to benefiting most from coffee’s interactions with them.”

This review underscores coffee’s potential as a valuable dietary component for promoting healthy aging. 

A new perspective on coffee consumption 

The research not only sheds light on coffee’s contributions to reducing chronic disease risks but also highlights its broader biological benefits, paving the way for future research in this area.

“The conception of coffee consumption has undergone a profound modification, evolving from a noxious habit into a safe lifestyle actually preserving human health,” wrote the researchers.

“The last 20 years also provided strikingly consistent epidemiological evidence showing that the regular consumption of moderate doses of coffee attenuates all-cause mortality, an effect observed in over 50 studies in different geographic regions and different ethnicities.”

The study is published in the journal Aging Research Reviews.

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