I May Live Forever

A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine is suggesting that coffee, lots of it, may indeed be good for you.

The new study is by far the largest of its kind to date. As part of a joint project with the AARP, researchers from the National Institutes of Health followed more than 400,000 healthy men and women between the ages of 50 and 71 for up to 13 years, during which 13% of the participants died. 

Overall, coffee drinkers were less likely than their peers to die during the study, and the more coffee they drank, the lower their mortality risk tended to be. Compared with people who drank no coffee at all, men and women who drank six or more cups per day were 10% and 15% less likely, respectively, to die during the study.

The researchers note that there are over 1,000 compounds associated with coffee, other than caffeine, and it is possible that some of these may contribute to decreased chronic decease.

We've already heard about the health benefits of beer. As soon as they figure out that red meat and gelato is good for you I'm all set!

See "Coffee drinking linked to longer life" for details on this report.