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Health

21st Dec 2015

How your coffee addiction might be making you HEALTHIER (hurray!)

Katie Mythen-Lynch

Are you a card carrying coffee addict? If you can’t function without regular caffeine top-ups, we have some good news for you this morning; the latest studies suggest your habit could actually be good for you. 

Researchers who studied the data of more than 90,000 adults discovered that people who drank between four and five cups of coffee daily had a much lower risk of dying prematurely. Not only were they less likely to die of diabetes of heart disease, they were also found to have a reduced risk of death from pneumonia, influenza, respiratory disease and suicide.

Best news ever, eh?

Researcher and study lead Dr Erikka Loftfield of the National Cancer Institute told Reuters Health: ‘Coffee contains numerous biologically active compounds, including phenolic acids, potassium and caffeine.’

Dr Loftfield added:

‘Although coffee drinking has also been inversely associated with incidence of certain cancers, like liver, in epidemiological studies, we did not observe an association between cancer and overall mortality.

Previous studies have found that people who drink between three and five cups of coffee a day may be less likely to develop clogged arteries – a risk factor for heart disease.

The study was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.