Coffee 'can make you live longer' claims

ConclusionThis large study found that people who drink coffee have a slightly reduced risk of death compared to non-coffee-drinkers, up to the point of five cups a day. Beyond five cups, the picture is more complicated – it may be, as the researchers say, because of the link between heavy coffee drinking and smoking. However, we can't be sure that's the case.The results for moderate coffee drinking are more consistent, but they still do not prove that coffee alone is the reason that coffee-drinkers were less likely to die during the study. The study has several strengths, including its large collective sample size, long duration of follow-up, and attempting to take into account various potential confounding factors, particularly smoking. However, the analyses may not have been able to account for the full effect of all of these or other, unmeasured health and lifestyle factors that could be influencing the results. Other limitations include the possibility for inaccurate estimation of coffee intake. Although the study has separated into caffeinated or decaffeinated, it is not able to inform on all the nuances of coffee drinking today – such as instant, freshly ground, espresso, latte, cappuccino, etc. Also, though a large sample size, it includes only US health professionals, who may have distinct characteristics from other populations.  It is also important to note that the reduction in risk of death from drinking coffee, at less than 10% relative risk, is fairly small...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Food/diet Source Type: news