Drinking three to four cups of coffee per day is linked to a lower likelihood of developing or dying from cardiovascular problems, according to a new study published in The British Medical Journal.
Experts from the University of Southampton and the University of Edinburgh brought together evidence from over 200 studies, finding that coffee drinking is also associated with lower risk of some cancers, diabetes, liver disease and dementia.
However, they say drinking coffee in pregnancy may be associated with harms, and may be linked to a very small increased risk of fracture in women.
The study concluded that drinking coffee was consistently associated with a lower risk of death from from heart disease, with the largest reduction in people who drink three cups a day, compared with non-coffee drinkers.
Increasing consumption to above three cups a day was not associated with harm, but the beneficial effect was less pronounced.
Coffee was also associated with a lower risk of several cancers, including prostate, endometrial, skin and liver cancer, as well as type 2 diabetes, gallstones and gout. The greatest benefit was seen for liver conditions, such as cirrhosis of the liver.
Finally, there seemed to be beneficial associations between coffee consumption and Parkinson’s disease, depression and Alzheimer’s disease.
There was less evidence for the effects of drinking decaffeinated coffee but it had similar benefits for a number of outcomes.
The authors concluded that coffee drinking ‘seems safe within usual patterns of consumption, except during pregnancy and in women at increased risk of fracture’.
Eliseo Guallar of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health said that although coffee intake is generally safe, doctors should not recommend drinking coffee to prevent disease – and people should not start drinking coffee for health reasons.
He said: “Moderate coffee consumption seems remarkably safe, and it can be incorporated as part of a healthy diet by most of the adult population.”
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