The salutary and malign effects of the humble coffee bean have been debated for centuries. A broadside posted at a London coffeehouse way back in 1674 celebrated the brew as a “Grave and wholesome Liquor, that heals the Stomack, makes the Genius quicker … Revives the Sad, and chears the Spirits, without making Mad.” The makers of Postum, a coffee substitute, begged to differ, however, warning consumers in the late 1800s that a cup of java was as dangerous as morphine, cocaine, nicotine, or strychnine — and could even rob them of their sight.
Calmer (perhaps decaffeinated) minds have prevailed in modern times as various studies have highlighted both the benefits and dangers of coffee consumption. A 2017 meta-analysis of 201 studies, for instance, concluded that coffee drinkers enjoy a lower risk of developing a number of diseases, including some cancers, Parkinson’s, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and some liver conditions when compared with those who abstain. But researchers also found evidence that the caffeine in coffee could complicate a pregnancy and raise the risk of fractures in women. Certain brewing methods, they noted, produce coffee that may also lead to elevated cholesterol levels.
“Coffee consumption seems generally safe within usual levels of intake, with summary estimates indicating largest risk reduction for various health outcomes at three to four cups a day, and more likely to benefit health than harm,” the authors concluded. “Importantly, outside of pregnancy, existing evidence suggests that coffee could be tested as an intervention without significant risk of causing harm. Women at increased risk of fracture should possibly be excluded.”
As much as the debate over coffee’s effects has cooled over the years, such a prescription is not likely to be welcomed by those of us whose relationship with the bean has been more fraught than friendly. For many years, I required two cups of coffee every morning to prevent the throbbing headache that would emerge without my caffeine fix. It was an effective, albeit addictive, routine until I began suffering from a racing heartbeat, also known as tachycardia, every afternoon.
I consulted my trusted homeopath, who recommended that I quit my morning coffee habit (?!?!) and offered a remedy (Coffea cruda) to ease the ensuing headaches. Three days later, I was caffeine- and headache-free. I eventually began to greet each morning with a steaming cup of chai and now often enjoy an afternoon latte with no ill effects.
All of this makes me particularly attuned to emerging research that attempts to link coffee consumption with particular health outcomes. Just last week, for example, The New York Times described a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition that not only celebrates the coffee-and-health connection but also seems to argue that the more you drink, the healthier you’ll be as you age.
The paper, which has not been peer-reviewed or published, tracked the health status and coffee consumption of some 47,000 female nurses who participated in a large-scale study that began in the 1970s. As Alice Callahan reports in The Times, the women responded every few years to questionnaires asking them about their dietary habits and caffeine consumption. Among the participants who were still alive in 2016, those who drank the most coffee per day during middle age were 13 percent more likely than those who drank the least amount to achieve “healthy aging” at the age of 70 or older.
Those healthy nurses, researchers learned, quaffed about seven cups per day.
That may be a bit more than necessary, says lead study author Sara Mahdavi, RD, PhD, a University of Toronto adjunct professor of nutritional sciences. Earlier research has argued that those health benefits may not accumulate after your third or fourth cup, and a study published last month in The Journal of Nutrition suggests that more moderate consumption may yield even better results.
Fang Fang Zhang, MD, PhD, and her Tufts University research team tracked the health status and coffee habits of some 46,000 U.S. adults between 1999 and 2018 and found that those who drank one to three cups a day were about 16 percent less likely to die from any cause during the following nine to 11 years than those who avoided the beverage.
Why coffee may produce such life-enhancing benefits remains stubbornly mysterious. But researchers have pointed to a variety of chemicals in the beverage that offer anti-inflammatory properties and others that serve to lower oxidative stress — both of which tend to prevent cellular damage.
There’s a catch, though: The life-extending benefits Zhang’s team uncovered only applied to those who drank their coffee black. Sprinkle in a half teaspoon of sugar or add a tablespoon of cream, they concluded, and your expiration date may not be delayed.
I suppose that makes my creamy afternoon latte a bit useless as a life-extension tool, but that was never its appeal. When I consider my conflicted history with the vexatious coffee bean, I’m just happy I can indulge in a satisfying cup on a fairly regular basis. It may not offer me a more expansive lifespan, but that’s OK. Life’s too short to settle for a bitter brew.
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