6 Healthy Reasons to Drink Coffee

According to a November 2015 study publi...irculation, people who enjoy three to five cups of coffee — doesn't matter if it's regular or decaf — each day had a lower risk of dying prematurely from several illnesses, including cardiovascular disease, neurological diseases (such as Parkinson's disease), type 2 diabetes, and suicide.

Researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health wanted to see if there was a link between drinking coffee and longevity, so they examined the data from three larger ongoing studies that consisted of 208,000 men and women.

"These data support the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Report that concluded that 'moderate coffee consumption' can be incorporated into a healthy dietary pattern," said senior author Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology, in a press release.

In a February 2015 study published in Clinical Cancer Research, researchers from Sweden discovered that breast cancer survivors who drank at least two cups of coffee each day had half the risk of recurrence compared to those who sipped less or no coffee at all. The study of 1,090 breast cancer patients also showed the women who enjoyed at least two cups of coffee a day had smaller tumors and a lower proportion of hormone-dependent tumors.

In an April 2014 review of three major studies that looked at more than 123,000 adults over a 20-year period, researchers found increasing coffee consumption by (on average) 1.5 cups per day over 4 years reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetesby 11 percent. In fact, those who sipped three or more cups of java per day had the lowest risk of type 2 diabetes, which was 37 percent lower than those who consumed a cup or less per day.

According to an August 2015 study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, drinking caffeinated coffee may prevent colon cancer from returning. After analyzing the questionnaires of nearly 1,000 adults who were treated with surgery and chemotherapy for stage III colon cancer, researchers discovered these patients were 42 percent less likely to have their cancer return than non-coffee drinkers, and were 34 percent less likely to die from cancer or any other cause. "If you are a coffee drinker and are being treated for colon cancer, don't stop," said lead study authorCharles S. Fuchs, MD, MPH, Director at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in a press release. "But if you're not a coffee drinker and wondering whether to start, you should first discuss it with your physician."

In an October 2014 study of nearly 28,000 adults published in the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases' journal Hepatology, researchers found people who consumed more three or more cups of coffee each day had lower levels of abnormal liver enzymes. "These data suggest that ingredients in coffee, other than caffeine, may promote liver health," said lead researcher Qian Xiao, PhD, MPH, from the National Cancer Institute in a press release.

The AMA's study isn't the first time coffee has been associated with lower mortality risk. A 2012 National Cancer Inst...NCI) study of nearly 400,000 older adults (ages 50 to 71) showed people who drink regular or decaf coffee were less likely to die from a host of fatal conditions — such as heart disease, respiratory disease, injuries and accidents, stroke, diabetes, and infections — compared to those who don't drink coffee.