People drinking coffee on a regular basis may have longer lifespans and be less prone to suffer from cardiovascular disease than those who refrain from consuming this beverage, says a new study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
In the research in question, coffee – including ground, instant and even decaffeinated – was “associated with equivalent reductions in the incidence of cardiovascular disease and death from cardiovascular disease or any cause,” said study author Professor Peter Kistler from the Baker Heart and Diabetes Research Institute in Australia.
“The results suggest that mild to moderate intake of ground, instant and decaffeinated coffee should be considered part of a healthy lifestyle,” he declared, as quoted in a press release by the European Society of Cardiology.
The researchers used data from the UK Biobank, a repository of biological samples provided by about half a million volunteers between 40 and 69 years of age, in order to examine associations between types of coffee and “incident arrhythmias, cardiovascular disease and death.”
The team ended up surmising that all types of coffee were “linked with a reduction in death from any cause”, and that all coffee subtypes were “associated with a reduction in incident cardiovascular disease,” with two to three cups of that beverage per day being deemed as the amount that yields the best results for the imbiber.
Kistler also noted that, while caffeine is the “most well-known constituent in coffee,” the beverage contains over a hundred “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,” he remarked. “Our findings indicate that drinking modest amounts of coffee of all types should not be discouraged but can be enjoyed as a heart healthy behavior.”