A new study has revealed that regular coffee drinkers are less likely to die early due to chronic diseases than those who do not drink this brewed beverage at all.
According to the researchers, the link between coffee and lower mortality rate may be related to the drink's ingredients, CNN reported.
For the study, the researchers observed the health conditions and drinking habits of almost 200,000 women and 45,000 men over the course of several years.
Initially, they discovered that those who drank between one to three cups of coffee a day had lower death risks by five to nine percent than those who don't drink coffee.
But then, after looking at the group who drank more cups a day, which is between three and five, the death risk rates became even lower at 12 to 15 percent, according to Live Science.
This led the researchers to believe that drinking coffee is really linked to fewer deaths caused by diseases. However, they noted that they were only able to see these trends among coffee drinkers who never smoked a cigarette in their lives.
As for the exact explanation behind the discovery, the researchers explained that it may have something to do with the participants' diet. It is possible that regular coffee drinkers consume less soda than others, which can also lower their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
But, the researchers believe that a stronger explanation lies in the ingredients of coffee. They noted that a cup of joe contains various chemicals, such as chlorogenic acid and lignans, that can work together inside the body to regulate blood sugar levels and reduce inflammation, which are some of the main causes of heart problems.
"We're not sure exactly sure how coffee is linked to all these benefits," the study's co-author Walter Willet of the Harvard School of Public Health told NPR. "The coffee bean itself is loaded with many different nutrients and phytochemicals. And my guess is that they're working together to have some of these benefits."
"We see similar benefits from caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee," he added. "That's important, because it suggests that caffeine is not responsible for the benefit."
Aside from general mortality, Willet's colleagues also discovered that coffee can help reduce the risk of dying due to various conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Parkinson's and even suicide.
The findings of the researchers were presented in a report published on November 16 in the medical journal Circulation.
