Yzabelle Bostyn
PORTUGUESE scientists have shown drinking coffee daily can help slow down aging.
A report by University of Coimbra (Portugal) researchers has shown that coffee can add two healthy years to your life.
The percentage of the world’s population over the age of 65 is growing rapidly and is only expected to increase further, from 10% in 2022 to 16% in 2050.
Now, research has revealed the important role that regular moderate coffee consumption can play as part of a healthy and balanced lifestyle.
The European Food Safety Authority considers that consuming up to 400 mg of caffeine (3-5 cups of coffee) per day is a moderate and safe amount for most adults. For pregnant or breastfeeding women, caffeine intake should be reduced to 200 mg per day.
As one of the most studied commodities worldwide, more than 50 studies have already noted coffee’s potential role in mitigating mortality, playing a modest but significant role in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, heart disease and stroke.
The new review, published in the journal Ageing Research Reviews and supported by the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee (ISIC), now concludes that regular coffee consumption adds an average of 1.8 years of healthy life to a person’s lifespan, meaning they not only live longer, but also healthier.
Some research suggests that other anti-ageing nutritional interventions may have a gender bias; however, the review concluded that the increase in healthy life expectancy attributed to regular coffee consumption is observed in both men and women.
In addition to coffee’s role in reducing the risk of some major chronic diseases, the review team also specifically explored existing research on the important role of coffee in biological mechanisms related to the ageing process.
This included coffee’s influence on mitigating genomic instability or cellular mutations, which are a known trigger of ageing, and strengthening regular cellular function.
The new review focussed on human studies and human tissues only for these mechanisms, highlighting results that provide a more accurate and reliable understanding of coffee’s effects on human health.
Many traditional clinical recommendations for older people have advised decreasing or even completely avoiding coffee consumption, however this review suggests that these guidelines should now be re-evaluated on the basis of the existing compelling scientific evidence on the role of coffee in healthy ageing.
Although coffee is most commonly associated with its caffeine content, it also includes a mixture of more than 2,000 potentially bioactive compounds.
Polyphenolic compounds may provide antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, with functions including reducing neuroinflammation or regulating insulin sensitivity.
Although both caffeinated and non-caffeinated components of coffee may help to extend life expectancy, there is still much we do not know about the exact mechanisms underlying the role played by these components.
The authors highlight the great research potential that exists in this field on the health benefits of coffee.
Lead author Rodrigo Cunha said: “Traditional clinical recommendations have sometimes overlooked the role of coffee in healthy ageing, but with a strong research base on how regular consumption can potentially reduce some of the most chronic diseases facing society, it is probably time to re-evaluate them.”
“Our review highlights the role that regular, moderate coffee consumption can play in mediating against biological mechanisms that naturally slow down or fail as we age, triggering a range of potential health problems and comorbidities.”
He added: “There is still scope to better understand exactly how these mechanisms work, as well as which individuals may be biologically predisposed to benefit most from coffee’s interactions with them.”
