Coffee Intake Could Decrease Mortality Risk

Coffee consumption was associated with a reduced risk for all-cause and cause-specific mortality, according to the findings of a recent study.

The prospective cohort study evaluated the association between coffee intake and mortality using data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study, which included a cohort of 521,330 individuals from 10 different countries who were followed for 16.4 years. In additional analyses using a sub-cohort of 14,800 individuals, the association between coffee consumption and serum biomarkers of liver function, inflammation, and metabolic health were evaluated.
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During follow-up, 41,693 deaths occurred. Participants who consumed the most coffee had statistically significant lower all-cause mortality compared with participants who did not drink coffee. Additionally, men and women in the highest quartile of coffee consumption had a significantly lower risk for digestive disease mortality.

Among women, coffee consumption was associated with statistically significant lower risks for circulatory disease mortality and cerebrovascular disease mortality, but had a positive association with ovarian cancer mortality. 

Higher coffee consumption was associated with lower serum alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, γ-glutamyltransferase levels in analysis of biomarkers in the subcohort. In women, coffee consumption was associated with lower C-reactive protein, lipoprotein(a), and glycated hemoglobin levels.

“Coffee drinking was associated with reduced risk for death from various causes,” the researchers concluded. “This relationship did not vary by country.”

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Gunter MJ, Murphy N, Cross AJ, et al. Coffee drinking and mortality in 10 European countries: A multinational cohort study [published online July 11, 2017]. Ann Intern Med. doi:10.7326/M16-2945.