Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages around the world. Previous observational studies have suggested an association between coffee intake and reduced risk for death. But how many cups of coffee should we drink a day? Should we add sugar or not?
Recently, a research team from the Public Health School of Southern Medical University (SMU) found that drinking 2.5-3.5 cups (about 250 ml per cup) of unsweetened coffee every day will have a 29% risk drop of all-cause mortality. While drinking 1.5-2.5 cups of sweetened coffee per day will be associated with a 31% lower risk of all-cause mortality.
The research, published in The Annals of Internal Medicine, surveyed 171,616 people with an average age of 55.6 from 2009 to 2018.
It showed U-shaped associations of unsweetened coffee, sugar-sweetened coffee, and artificially sweetened coffee with mortality. Compared with non-consumers, consumers who drank 0-1.5 cups, 1.5-2.5 cups, 2.5-3.5 cups, 3.5-4.5 cups and more than 4.5 cups of unsweetened coffee per day had a lower risk of all-cause mortality after adjustment for lifestyle, sociodemographic, and clinical factors, with respective hazard ratios of 0.79, 0.84, 0.71, 0.71, and 0.77.
"In summary, our study affirms the benefits of coffee on all-cause and specific mortality, with or without adding sugar," said professor Mao Chen, leader of the research team. The team argues that, it is not necessary for clinicians and public health doctors to exclude coffee from the diet of patients with cardiovascular disease and cancer. But they should still be cautious about the dosage of the sugar added.
Author: Ariel
Editor: Wing, Steven, Monica, Will, Jerry
