Can Coffee Help You Live Longer?
Nicolas Flamel was a French scribe who, if the legend is to be believed, discovered the Philosopher’s Stone. As well as being able to turn common, base metals in gold, the alchemical substance is also capable of extending one’s life.
Flamel certainly did exist (he was born in the French commune of Pontoise and died, in 1418, in Paris), but there’s been no proof of the Philosopher’s Stone’s has ever been found.
However, a study, which was recently published in the journal Circulation, has found that people who drink a moderate amount of coffee tend to live longer.
So is coffee the Philosopher’s Stone?
There have been numerous academic studies into the health benefits of coffee and many of them have uncovered positive properties. But what makes this piece of research different, not to mention impressive, is its scale. The findings are based on data from three separate studies and comprised of 200,000 participants.
The analysis looked at a plethora of contributing factors that could potentially skew the results, such as smoking and drinking habits, typical exercise routines and general diets.
The research team found that those who drank three to five cups a day experienced a lower risk of death from cardiovascular and neurological diseases, Type 2 diabetes and suicide.
“Bioactive compounds in coffee reduce insulin resistance and systemic inflammation,” commented Ming Ding, the study’s lead scientist.
“That could explain some of our findings.”
Frank Hu, a well-respected professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, commented: “This study provides further evidence that moderate consumption of coffee may confer health benefits in terms of reducing premature death.”
“[This] data supports the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Report that concluded that ‘moderate coffee consumption can be incorporated into a healthy dietary pattern.’”
Chalk this study up as another piece of evidence that coffee is indeed a wondrous thing.
So we’ll ask again: Could coffee be the Philosopher’s Stone?