Coffee is one of the world’s most widely studied beverages, and research is painting an increasingly clear picture that moderate coffee consumption can have several positive health effects. Thousands of scientific studies have examined the relationship between coffee and, among other things, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and longevity.
A comprehensive meta-analysis, which compiled results from research into 67 different health outcomes, concluded that coffee more often than not provides health benefits rather than risks for most adults.
People who drink several cups of coffee per day also have, on average, a lower risk of premature death compared to those who rarely or never drink coffee. This is reported by the Washington Post.
The effects are believed to be due to the drink’s large content of biologically active substances. In addition to caffeine, coffee contains over a thousand different chemical compounds, including antioxidants, polyphenols, as well as vitamins and minerals such as magnesium, potassium, and B vitamins.
May Protect the Liver
One of the most well-documented health effects concerns the liver. Research shows that people who regularly drink coffee have a lower risk of developing several serious liver diseases, including liver cirrhosis, fatty liver disease, and liver cancer. Studies also show that coffee drinkers often have lower levels of liver enzymes in the blood, which is a sign of better liver health.
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In a large 2021 study, in which nearly half a million people were followed for about eleven years, coffee drinkers had a 21 percent lower risk of developing chronic liver disease. The risk of dying from such a disease was also almost halved compared to people who did not drink coffee.
The researchers observed positive effects regardless of whether participants drank brewed coffee, espresso, instant coffee, or decaffeinated coffee. The greatest benefit was noted among those who drank three to four cups per day, but even one cup daily was associated with a lower risk.
Lower Risk for Type 2 Diabetes
The body of evidence is also strong when it comes to type 2 diabetes. Large international studies show that people who drink three to four cups of coffee per day have about a 25 percent lower risk of developing the disease than those who rarely drink coffee. According to several analyses, the risk decreases progressively with each cup, up to about six cups per day.
This association has been observed in studies including over a million participants from Europe, North America, and Asia, and applies to both women and men, young and old, as well as people with different lifestyles.
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Researchers have also found that changes in coffee habits affect risk. People who increased their consumption by one to two cups per day had a lower risk of developing diabetes, while the risk increased in those who decreased their coffee intake.
One explanation is thought to be that the polyphenols in coffee improve the body’s insulin sensitivity and help regulate blood sugar. They may also protect the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas.
May Reduce the Risk of Parkinson’s Disease
Coffee has also been linked to a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease. In a large summary of about twenty studies with over a million participants, people who drank up to three cups of coffee per day had about a 28 percent lower risk of developing the disease compared to those who did not drink coffee.
Researchers believe caffeine plays an important role. Parkinson’s disease is characterized by the gradual breakdown of nerve cells that produce dopamine. Experimental studies indicate that caffeine may help protect these nerve cells, which could explain the lower risk of the disease.
Similar associations have also been observed in people who regularly drink tea.
Encourages More Physical Activity
Coffee may also contribute to increased physical activity. In an American study published in the renowned medical journal New England Journal of Medicine, one hundred healthy adults were monitored for two weeks with activity trackers and pulse sensors. Participants drank coffee on certain days and completely abstained on others.
The results showed that participants took about 1,000 more steps on the days they drank coffee. This equates to an extra walk of roughly half a kilometer.
The researchers suggest that this increased activity may partly explain why coffee drinkers in many studies exhibit better health than those who do not drink coffee.
Earlier Suspicions Have Been Weakened
But coffee has not always enjoyed a good reputation in research. In the 1990s, the beverage was classified by the World Health Organization as possibly carcinogenic, following studies that indicated a link with, among other things, bladder cancer.
Later research, however, showed that the results were largely influenced by the fact that many coffee drinkers also smoked. When researchers accounted for smoking, the link between coffee and several types of cancer essentially disappeared.
Since then, a large number of studies have instead indicated that coffee may have protective effects against several diseases and that, for most healthy adults, the drink likely does more good than harm.