A new study has revealed that drinking three cups of coffee a day can increase your chances of living for longer.

The research, conducted by the US National Cancer Institute found that the more caffeine-packed brew you drink, the less likely you are to die from chronic health conditions including stoke, diabetes and heart disease.

Contrary to popular belief that too much caffeine is bad for your health, the findings showed that, out of the half a million older people in the study, those who drank at least six cups of coffee a day reduced their risk of dying by 10 per cent to 15 per cent.

Speaking about the results Dr Neal Freedman of the US National Cancer Institute said:  “What we found was over the course of follow-up there was an inverse association between coffee drinking and the risk of death overall and with a number of different causes as well.”

He added: “The association was similar for men and women, and tended to get stronger as participants drank more coffee, though the result was very similar for those who drank two or three cups per day and those who drank more than that.”

 

Coffee-drinkers tend to live longer but are more likely to have bad habits.

But don’t be getting ahead of yourself just yet as coffee-drinkers were also found to be more likely to smoke, drink large amounts of alcohol, eat read meat and less likely to exercise regularly all of which would impact upon the statistics.

The research was published by the Journal of Caffeine Research and followed the participants, aged between 50 and 71, for 12 years. Scientists say that more research is needed to assess the relationship between caffeine and health.

But while we’re waiting on those results, we’re off to do the coffee run (which we may have just introduced this morning)…