Many appreciate the waking effect of coffee. In a study, researchers have now examined how unsweetened and sweetened coffee affect the risk of death.
Coffee is and remains one of the most popular drinks. Germans drink 168 liters of coffee per capita per year. In their lifetime they have a total of 77,000 cups. For many, the most obvious advantage of the hot drink, in addition to the taste, is the caffeine it contains, which makes you feel a little awake. Coffee drinkers can refill their glass, because in addition to the stimulant, it contains antioxidants, for example, which have positive effects on health. According to studies, those who drink the black gold are less likely to develop liver diseases or type 2 diabetes. A new study has now examined which coffee affects the risk of death and how. The result: Those who drink coffee have a lower risk of death than non-coffee drinkers – details make a difference.
For their study, the researchers used data from the UK biodatabase, a large medical database with patient information. The study was published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. The scientists surveyed 171,616 participants up to five times over the course of a year about their lifestyle and coffee drinking habits. The researchers used death certificates to find out who had died an average of seven years later. The subjects were between 37 and 73 years old and stated that they had no cardiovascular diseases or cancer during the survey.
The researchers found that those who drink a moderate amount of coffee (1.5 to 3.5 cups a day) and sweeten it had a 30 percent lower risk of dying than people who don’t drink coffee. On average, the subjects sweetened their coffee with a teaspoon of sugar. “If you add just a teaspoon or so of sugar to your coffee, the benefits of coffee that we believe are there aren’t completely negated by that one teaspoon,” said Dr. Christina Wee, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, told CNN. For coffee drinkers who use artificial sweeteners, the scientists found no clear results.
According to the study, those who enjoy coffee without sweetening have a 16 to 29 percent lower risk of death compared to non-coffee drinkers. Coffee in moderate amounts can therefore be enjoyed without a guilty conscience, but it is better to avoid fatty cream, milk or too much sugar.
Coffee could be a life extender
In order to be able to make statements about the risk of death in connection with coffee consumption, the researchers used calculations to adjust the results for lifestyle factors, sociodemographic influences and clinical factors. The scientists also asked the subjects about their dietary habits, exercise and level of education, among other things. However, the researchers did not ask about income or occupation, for example, and adjusted the data for these factors. These could also have an impact on the risk of death.
Earlier observational studies from 2015 and 2017 have already confirmed that coffee drinkers have a longer life expectancy than people who do without the brewed beans. But in the previous studies, the scientists did not differentiate between sweetened and unsweetened coffee.
Sources: CNN, Study in Annals of Internal Medicine, Statista 1, Statista 2
