Regular coffee consumption offers multiple health benefits

Coffee lovers have more reasons to celebrate, with a recent study revealing health benefits from drinking coffee by reducing the risks of many medical conditions, including those in the cardiometabolic and gastrointestinal (GI) systems and those associated with alcohol use and oestrogen regulation.

“In this large, prospective study based on the UK Biobank, we found that individuals with high-level coffee consumption (ie, ≥4 cups per day) were at lower risk of 30 medical conditions, compared with individuals with low-level coffee consumption (ie, <1 cup per day),” the researchers said.

A total of 395,539 individuals with available information on coffee consumption collected at recruitment between 2006 and 2010 were included in this study. Participants were categorized based on their coffee intake: low (<1 cup per day), moderate (1‒3 cups), and high (≥4 cups). They were followed through 2020 to assess 496 medical conditions.

Using Cox regression, the researchers examined the relationship between high-level coffee intake and the risk of medical conditions, adjusting for multiple confounders and using low-level intake as reference. They also applied disease-trajectory and comorbidity network analyses to visualize temporal and nontemporal relationships between medical conditions with an inverse association with high intake.

Thirty-one medical conditions significantly correlated with high-level coffee consumption during a median follow-up of 11.8 years. Of these, 30 had an inverse association, with hazard ratios ranging from 0.61 to 0.94. These inverse relationships were more evident for women than men. [Am J Clin Nutr 2022;116:730-740]

In disease-trajectory and comorbidity network analyses of the 30 conditions, four major clusters of medical conditions were identified, mainly in the cardiometabolic and GI systems among both men and women. Other clusters included medical conditions following alcohol-related disorders, especially among men, and oestrogen-related condition among women.

“Taken together, these results further suggest that habitual coffee consumption is likely beneficial for health for both men and women, possibly due to its associations with cardiometabolic and GI diseases and diseases related to alcohol use and oestrogen regulation,” the researchers said.

Antioxidant effects

Only a few studies explored disease networks following high-level coffee consumption, but the current findings of a lower risk for conditions such as diabetes mellitus, gout, hypertension, liver cirrhosis, and cholelithiasis supported those of previous literature. [Nutr Rev 2018;76:395-417; Circulation 2014;129:643-659; BMJ Open 2016;6:e009809; Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2015;42:637-648]

“Given that multiple coffee components (eg, caffeine) have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiproliferative effects, it is biologically plausible that coffee intake might modulate the risks of diseases in these systems,” the researchers said.

Earlier studies also reported the antioxidant effects of coffee components (ie, flavonoids, melanoidines, and chlorogenic acids). [Int J Food Sci Nutr 2014;65:925-936]

Further evidence showed that the role of caffeine in increasing metabolic rates and the antagonistic effects of phenolic compounds in coffee likely powered the association between coffee and metabolic diseases. [Am J Clin Nutr 1990;51:759-767; Diabetes Care 2009;32:1023-1025]

“Our finding of weaker associations for high-level intake of decaffeinated coffee, compared with high-level intake of regular coffee, also suggests the importance of caffeine,” the researchers said.