Does Coffee Really Prolong Life?
Two new studies have shown coffee drinkers live longer. This is good research, big and well done, but that doesn’t mean coffee is the elixir of longevity.
Title: The more coffee, the longer life, says study (CNN)
History : Many of us drink coffee around the world that any benefit or risk from it will go a long way in public health. So, there have been a lot of studies comparing coffee drinkers to those weirdos who didn’t touch coffee. Results are mixed, but most recent studies say coffee drinkers live longer. (2012 – yes ; 2013 – no ; 2015 – yes .)
So what’s in this year’s harvest? Two large-scale studies: one involving 521,330 people in 10 European countries ; and another 185,855 in Hawaii and Los Angeles , mostly of color. (Previous research on coffee has been predominantly white, so this is a great addition to science.)
Yes, coffee drinkers lived longer. Yes, even if they drank decaf. But all of this coffee research is observational. They did not randomly assign people to drink coffee or not; people chose themselves. For example, coffee drinkers in both studies were less likely to smoke, and the researchers adjusted their numbers to account for this. But there could be a host of other risk factors that they didn’t know to adjust.
Takeaway : coffee can be good for you, but again, drinking coffee can be a signal that you are already healthier.