Coffee: the magic beans

The 9-5 grind of the rat race is probably not the best thing for our health, mentally or physically. The fuel that keeps our capitalist hell-machine running, though, might actually be healthy food. 

What’s the news? 

According to a new study, drinking coffee regularly might protect people from cardiovascular disease and early death. The new look at coffee used data from the U.K. Biobank, a database that contains the coffee consumption preferences of nearly 450,000 adults, who had healthy hearts at the beginning of the study. Perhaps those jitters and trips to the bathroom are good for you. 

How about its negative impact on sleep and the effect of that on health? 

After 12.5 years, the researchers took another look at the data, which showed that all types of coffee (ground, instant, and decaffeinated) were linked with a reduction in death from any cause. “The results suggest that mild to moderate intake of ground, instant, and decaffeinated coffee should be considered part of a healthy lifestyle,” said Peter Kistler, the author of the study. 

What’s the recommended volume to be consumed? 

The study showed that drinking two to three cups of coffee per day was associated with the largest reduction in early death compared to people who drank no coffee at all. “Caffeine is the most well-known constituent in coffee, but the beverage contains more than 100 biologically active components. It is likely that the non-caffeinated compounds were responsible for the positive relationships observed between coffee drinking, cardiovascular disease, and survival,” said Kistler.