Coffee: How Much Should You Drink to Age Healthily?

Drinking four cups of coffee a day boosts a person’s chances of avoiding sickness as they age, a Harvard study has found.

The biggest coffee drinkers, who consume four strong 150mg Americanos a day, had a 13 percent higher chance of healthy ageing than people who drank almost no coffee at all, the scientists said. Almost 50,000 women were followed by Harvard academics for 30 years in a comprehensive investigation into the health benefits of caffeine consumption on ageing.

Dr Sara Mahdavi, the study’s author from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said: “While past studies have linked coffee to individual health outcomes, our study is the first to assess coffee’s impact across multiple domains of ageing over three decades. The findings suggest that caffeinated coffee - not tea or decaf - may uniquely support ageing trajectories that preserve both mental and physical function.”

Caffeinated soda drinks were found to have a negative impact on health and one glass a day lowered the odds of healthy ageing by almost a fifth.

“While this study adds to prior evidence suggesting coffee intake may be linked with healthy ageing, the benefits from coffee are relatively modest compared to the impact of overall healthy lifestyle habits and warrant further investigation.”

She said the women who aged well “were also eating well, exercising and avoiding smoking”, adding: “Coffee may support healthy ageing when it’s part of an overall healthy lifestyle but it’s not the main driver.”

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