Did anybody ever tell you to stop drinking so much coffee because it was bad for your health? Or maybe that it would increase your risk of a heart attack or even cancer?
Well, head for the coffee machine! It seems your worries are over.
Results of studies carried out over a 20-year period to 2004 have shown that regular drinking of high quantities of coffee - up to six cups a day - was not associated with an increased risk of death and in some cases even offered some health benefits. Ahhhhh, I can just smell those freshly ground beans.
Research led by Esther Lopez-Garcia of Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in Spain followed 120,000 US men and women who drank caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee. The women were nurses and the men doctors, dentists and other health professionals.
The study found that women who reported drinking at least two to three cups of caffeinated coffee per day had a 25 per cent lower risk of death from heart disease than women who did not drink coffee and there was a smaller decreased risk for men. The reduced rate of death was largely as a result of lower rates of heart disease. There was also no reported increased cancer risk for coffee drinkers.
So for anyone who promised themselves they had better cut back on their coffee drinking... it seems there’s no need. Espresso, latté and flat whites never tasted better.
