"Coffee and Mortality"
Do coffee-drinkers live longer than non-coffee drinkers?
Is it “Wake up and smell the coffee” or
“Don’t wake up at all?”
The largest study ever conducted on diet and health
put that question to the test,
examining the association between coffee drinking
with subsequent mortality among hundreds of thousands
of older men and women in the United States.
Coffee drinkers won, though the effect was modest.
10 to 15% lower risk of death
for those drinking 6 or more cups a day,
specifically due to lower risk of dying
from heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke,
injuries and accidents, diabetes, and infections.
That much coffee was found to increase the death rate
of younger people, though, under age 55.
Hence, based on this study, it may be appropriate
to recommend avoid drinking more than four cups a day.
But if you put all the studies together,
bottom line - coffee consumption
is associated with no change or a small reduction
in mortality starting around 1 or 2 cups a day,
for both men and women.
On a cup by cup basis, the risk of dying
was 3% lower for each cup of coffee consumed daily,
which all provides reassurance with respect to the concern
that coffee drinking might adversely affect health.
Well, at least, longevity.
Healthwise, though a recent population study found
NO link between coffee consumption and symptoms of GERD,
reflux disease such as heart burn and regurgitation,
if you actually stick a tube
down people’s throats and measure pH,
coffee induces significant acid reflux,
whereas tea does not.
Is it just because tea has less caffeine?
No. If you reduce the caffeine content
of the coffee down to that of tea,
it still causes significantly more acid reflux.
Decaf did cause less, though, so GERD patients
might want to choose decaffeinated or even better, drink tea.
Coffee intake is also associated with urinary incontinence,
and so a decrease in caffeine intake should be discussed
with women who have the condition, or men.
About 2 cups of coffee a day worth of caffeine
may worsen urinary leakage in men as well.
A 2014 meta-analysis suggested that daily coffee consumption
was associated with a slightly increased risk
of bone fractures in women,
but a decreased risk of fractures in men.
Not hip fractures, though.
No significant association was found between coffee consumption
and the risk of hip fracture,
though tea consumption may actually be protective
against hip fracture, though appears to have
no apparent relationship with fracture risk in general.
There are certain populations in particular that may want
to stay away from caffeine,
for example those with glaucoma,
and possibly even those with a family history of glaucoma.
Goes without saying that people who have trouble sleeping
might not want to imbibe.
Even just a single cup at night can cause
a significant deterioration in sleep quality.
Then there are case reports, for example, of individuals
with epilepsy having fewer seizures after stopping coffee,
so I guess it’s worth a shot.
We used to think caffeine might increase the risk
of an irregular heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation,
but that too was based on anecdotal case reports
like this one of a young woman who suffered atrial fibrillation
after chocolate intake abuse.
But these cases invariably involved the acute ingestion
of very large quantities of caffeine.
As a result, though, the notion that caffeine ingestion
may trigger abnormal heart rhythms had become "common knowledge",
and this assumption led to changes in medical practice.
More recently, however, the pendulum has swung
in the opposite direction. Why?
Because we actually have data now.
Caffeine does NOT increase the risk of atrial fibrillation.
And low-dose caffeine, which they defined
as less than about 5 cups of coffee a day,
may even have a protective effect.
Tea consumption also appears to lower cardiovascular disease risk,
especially when it comes to stroke.
However, given the proliferation of energy drinks
that contain massive quantities of caffeine,
one might want to temper any message that suggests
that caffeine is beneficial.
Seems a little patronizing, but it’s no joke.
12 highly caffeinated energy drinks
within a few hours could be lethal.