LATTE LOVE
How your morning coffee can slash your risk of silent killer – and nine other health benefits of a brew
IF you can’t tell your espressos from your cappuccinos, your flat whites from your long blacks, fear not.
Whatever you order and however you drink it, coffee is good for you.
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More than 2.25 billion cups are drunk globally every day, and the good news is, it won’t just give you a pleasant caffeine buzz.
Last week Harvard University researchers revealed drinking more coffee – and tea – could help you live longer.
The study showed adults with type 2 diabetes are less likely to die early if they ditch sugary drinks and drink up to six cups a day.
Risk of death from cardiovascular disease for those with type 2 diabetes was also slashed by 18 per cent in coffee drinkers.
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In fact, coffee has a multitude of health benefits.
Dr Sarah Berry, of the Dept of Nutritional Sciences at King’s College London told Sun Health: “The evidence shows coffee drinkers live longer and have less heart disease and less cancer than non-coffee drinkers.
“Coffee is rich in polyphenols, its beneficial effects are likely to be linked to those compounds.”
So put the kettle on and enjoy a cup while learning about the many benefits of your brew . . .
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LIFE SPAN
IT’S not just Harvard arguing that coffee can extend your inner clock.
Research published in the European Journal of Preventative Cardiology found drinking two to three cups a day is linked to a longer life span.
The same applied to ground, instant and decaffeinated coffee.
Professor Peter Kistler of the Baker Heart and Diabetes Research Institute, Australia, said: “The results suggest a moderate intake of ground, instant and decaffeinated coffee should be considered part of a healthy lifestyle.”
KIDNEY LOVE
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YOUR kidneys may thank you for sipping that Americano.
Findings published in the journal Kidney International Reports, from John Hopkins University in the US, showed that a cup a day can cut the risk of acute kidney injury.
Compounds in coffee, or those combined with caffeine, were found to support kidney function.
Study author Chirag Parikh said: “My epidemiologic study adds combating of acute kidney injury to the health benefits of coffee.”
MORTALITY BOOST
A JOINT research project from Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China and the UK Biobank, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found adults who drank 1.5 to 3.5 cups of coffee a day were less likely to die during a seven year follow up.
More than 171,000 participants took part in the study and researchers found those who drank coffee were 16-21 per cent less likely to leave this mortal coil in the next seven years than participants who didn’t drink coffee.
MIRACLE CURE
DYSKINESIA is a rare condition that is characterised by involuntary twitches and movements.
Doctors from the Paris Brain Institute published the case of a child suffering from the condition who was able to return to a normal life thanks to drinking coffee.
The same team rolled out a study in dyskinesia patients.
They found in a trial that 87 per cent of participants saw their symptoms improve or even disappear completely by drinking coffee.
BRAIN BOOSTING
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DRINKING the black stuff may help protect your noggin.
It can reduce risk of neurodegenerative condition Parkinson’s disease, particularly in men, by up to 30 per cent, according to ongoing research from the Institute for Scientific Information, in the US.
And while there’s currently no cure for Alzheimer’s, a study from Edith Cowan University, Australia, found participants with higher coffee intake experienced a slower rate of cognitive decline.
SWERVE DIABETES
NOT only can coffee help put type 2 diabetes into remission, researchers from Harvard School of Public Health also found it can reduce risk of developing the silent killer at all.
Study participants who increased their consumption of coffee by one cup a day over a four year period, had an 11 per cent lower risk of getting type 2 diabetes.
HEART HELPER
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YOUR cup of Joe is doing more than keeping you alert through dull meetings.
A study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, from the Baker Heart and Diabetes Research Institute, found that consumption of up to five cups a day reduces the risk of both heart failure and stroke.
Two to three cups a day was optimal according to the research, reducing your risk of both conditions by around 20 per cent.
LIVER LESSONS
A BRITISH Liver Trust report found drinking coffee may prevent liver cancer.
The World Health Organisation has also confirmed the protective effects of coffee for liver cancer after reviewing over 1,000 studies.
In addition to protecting the liver, coffee has also been found to reduce the risk of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis too, whether it’s instant, filtered or espresso.
STRONG DNA
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IT’S impossible to repair DNA, but drinking coffee has been found to keep it in better condition, reducing cellular damage.
DNA damage can lead to cancer.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
A study by The University of California Los Angeles, in the journal Nutrition and Cancer, found coffee protects DNA from liver, uterus and colorectal cancer.
Another study from the National Health Screening Service, in Oslo, Norway, published in the Cancer Causes & Control journal, found coffee cuts risk of lung cancer.
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