People Who Drink Coffee Have a 58% Lower Risk of Death
A study has found that coffee can be a 'medicine' for office workers who spend their work hours sitting. Coffee drinkers were found to have a lower risk of death compared to those who do not drink coffee. In the past, Italian Catholic priests referred to coffee as the 'devil's drink' and requested Pope Clement VIII to ban its consumption. However, as research on the various benefits and effects of coffee progressed, it has long since shed its devilish reputation, though due to its strong addictive nature, it is sometimes called the 'devil's drink' in another sense.
It was found that under the same conditions of sitting for 6 hours a day, people who drink coffee have a 24% lower risk of death from all causes compared to those who do not drink coffee. [Image source=Getty Images]
On the 17th (local time), The Washington Post introduced a study by Professor Bingyan Li and his research team from the Medical School of Suzhou University, China, published in the international academic journal BMC Public Health. The researchers found that among people who sit for 6 hours a day under the same conditions, those who drink coffee have a 24% lower risk of death from all causes compared to those who do not drink coffee. The best condition is to reduce sitting time while consuming coffee daily. According to the study, people who sit for more than 6 hours a day and do not drink coffee have a 58% higher risk of death from all causes compared to those who sit less than 6 hours and drink coffee. The researchers explained that "the antioxidant components of coffee offset the side effects caused by prolonged inactivity."
When physical activity decreases, metabolism slows down, impairing the body's ability to regulate blood sugar, blood pressure, and fat breakdown. If repeated, this can cause widespread inflammation in major organs and tissues, leading to various degrees of damage. In fact, several studies have shown that sitting for more than 6 to 8 hours a day is associated with an increased risk of death from heart disease, diabetes, and various cancers. This study also found that people who sit for more than 8 hours a day have a 46% higher risk of death from all causes and a 79% higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease compared to those who sit less than 4 hours a day.
The researchers analyzed lifestyle data of 10,639 American adults collected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) conducted by the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics from 2007 to 2018. They specifically checked how many hours per day the participants spent sitting and their coffee consumption. During the 13-year follow-up period, 945 participants died, of whom 284 died from cardiovascular disease.
People who drank two or more cups of coffee a day had a 33% lower risk of death from all causes and a 54% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease compared to those who did not drink coffee. Among non-coffee drinkers, longer sitting time was associated with increased mortality from all causes, but in the group consuming two or more cups of coffee daily, there was no correlation between sitting time and mortality from all causes.
However, the researchers emphasized that "considering coffee is a complex compound, more research is still needed." There are also results suggesting that drinking antioxidant-rich tea can provide similar effects. Professor Stanisław Suma and his research team from the Department of Preventive Cardiology at Lund University confirmed whether tea, as well as coffee, can reduce the risk of premature death. Antioxidant-rich teas include green tea, oolong tea, black tea, rooibos tea, and pu-erh tea.
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