Why Harvard University Chan School of Public Health says Coffee reduces hereditary lifestyle disease risk

“This study provides further evidence that moderate consumption of coffee may confer health benefits in terms of reducing premature death due to several diseases. These data support the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Report that concluded that ‘moderate coffee consumption can be incorporated into a healthy dietary pattern”

Professor of nutrition and epidemiology and Senior author Frank Hu on the landmark study from Harvard University Chan School of Public Health on the long term health risks of coffee drinking

Some interesting new research has come out that seems to run counter to common sense.

Researchers at the Harvard University Chan School of Public Health has published a long term study that seems to suggest that heavy coffee drinkers are less likely to die from hereditary lifestyle diseases as reported in the article “Coffee-drinkers less likely to die from certain diseases”, published Monday, November 16, 2015, The Jamaica Observer.

Their research paper, published in the November 16 edition of the journal Circulation, specifically suggests that drinking three to five cups of coffee per day reduces the risk of premature death from:

1.      Diabetes

2.      Heart disease

3.      Parkinson's disease

4.      Suicide

Alas don't get too happy; caffeine is still dangerous as explained in my blog article entitled “FDA to regulate Caffeine after Ohio Resident overdoses and dies - How Chocolate and Cocoa are healthier alternatives as No Caffeine High from Dark Chocolate” and there's no protection from cancer.

The study seems legitimate enough. So why did the Researchers at the Harvard University Chan School of Public Health get these results?

Harvard University Chan School of Public Health says Coffee reduces hereditary lifestyle risk - Why Killer Beans may be Good for you

The study was based on data gathered from three large, ongoing surveys over a period of thirty (30) years as noted in the article “Moderate coffee drinking may lower risk of premature death”, published November 16, 2015, Harvard School of Public Health.

The Group being studied was a large group, with some 300,000 nurses and other health professionals broken into three (3) groups as follows:

1.         74,890 women in the Nurses’ Health Study

2.         93,054 women in the Nurses’ Health Study 2

3.         40,557 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study

During the thirty (30) years the study was being conducted, 19,524 women and 12,432 men died from a range of causes wish the study did not account for as being connected to their coffee intake.

They also were representative of persons from different socio-economic backgrounds and agreed to answer questionnaires and track their medical conditions and habits at regular intervals during the 30 year period.

The entire group was divided into three groups; one control group of non-coffee drinkers and two experimental groups, one that drank coffee moderately i.e. 2 cups a day and another group of heavy coffee drinkers i.e. 3 to five cups a day.

Despite these considerations, the study is also more of a correlation, as it didn't establish a cause-and-effect for coffee and the reduced likelihood of certain diseases. Also despite the researchers accounting for risk factors such as smoking, body mass index, exercise, alcohol consumption, and diet, the participants might have fudge the results to make themselves look healthier.

The fact that this was a self-reported survey where the participants reported what they consumed rather than being monitored under controlled conditions like lab rats suggests this was possible. After all, the 300,000 strong surveyed are mostly health professionals!

However, it does suggests increase coffee intake, be it decaffeinated or caffeinated, was connected to the reduction of premature death from the hereditary lifestyle diseases listed above.  

Also it doesn’t explain why moderate drinkers also benefitted and why heavy drinkers showed increased benefits from coffee to quote the abstract: “In the whole study population, moderate coffee consumption was associated with reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease, and suicide”

Coffee’s hidden benefits – New Elixer of youth yet to be discovered in the killer beans

Quite simply, it indicates that something is in the coffee that's good for you.

We already know that caffeine in excess is bad, which is why it's on the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) banned list as explained in my blog article entitled “FDA to regulate Caffeine after Ohio Resident overdoses and dies - How Chocolate and Cocoa are healthier alternatives as No Caffeine High from Dark Chocolate”.  

Regular consumption of coffee is good for you; just don't drink it if you're pregnant women or below the age of 18, to quote professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard and lead author, Dr. Frank Hu: “Regular consumption of coffee can be included as part of a healthy, balanced diet. However, certain populations such as pregnant women and children should be cautious about high caffeine intake from coffee or other beverages”.

So apparently other chemicals in the coffee are helping to extend the lives of coffee drinkers a postulated by first author Ming Ding, a doctoral student in the Department of Nutrition, quote: “Bioactive compounds in coffee reduce insulin resistance and systematic inflammation. That could explain some of our findings. However, more studies are needed to investigate the biological mechanisms producing these effects”.

Perhaps a new drug that may be the elixer of youth and a clue to extended life waits to be extracted from coffee beans. For that, further research is needed.