Are You Drinking One Cup of Coffee Too Many?

[madokie]

Study Says Overconsumption Could Send You to an Early Death
Evidence suggests four cups a day or more may shorten your lifespan.

Over the years, there has been an extensive health debate over whether coffee is really good or bad for our bodies, with strong arguments and research coming from both sides of the fence. Some research suggests that coffee can prevent strokes, delay the onset of diabetes and heart disease. Other findings indicate it might lead to some forms of cancer and adversely affect the metabolism.

The most recent study from the Mayo Clinic published on August 15 reveals that drinking more than 28 cups a week can harm your health considerably, with those consuming more than four cups a day twice as likely to die than those who are non-drinkers.

Based on data collected from the Aerobic Center Longitudinal Study, the research measured the coffee consumption habits and lifestyles of almost 45,000 people ages between 20 and 87 years over a 17-year period.

http://www.alternet.org/personal-health/are-you-drinking-one-cup-coffee-too-many-study-says-overconsumption-could-send-you

[David__77]

1. These studies often strike me as poorly-designed.

If the study is really making the leap to state that associated equals causation, then there is a problem here. There are all sorts of associations in which there is no causation, or the direction of causality is unclear.

[hlthe2b]

2. Yes... one can only imagine how many confounding factors are associated with extremely high coffee

intake--beyond lack of sleep, poor diet, no exercise, concomitant stimulant, cigarette, or other drug use..... Any number of risky health potentials might be at play..

[bowens43]

3. As a heavy coffee drinker Im going with this study.....

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/coffee-drinkers-may-live-longer/

The data showed that the more coffee a person consumed, the less likely he or she was to die from a number of health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, infections and even injuries and accidents.

Over all, the risk of dying during the 14-year study period was about 10 percent lower for men and about 15 percent lower for women who drank anywhere from two cups to six or more cups of coffee a day.

[JI7]

4. maybe those who are more likely to drink 4 cups or more also have more stress

don't get enough sleep and other issues which contribute to early death.

but someone who is mostly healthy but still drinks a lot of coffee would be ok.

[malaise]

5. Well no one would say I died young if I died tomorrow

I love coffee and have three cups a day all before noon. Maybe five times a year I have coffee after dinner. I'm going down with my blue mountain

[hobbit709]

10. You and me both

You staying dry today?

[malaise]

11. Most of the rain is gone

leaving the air clean and cool. I'm lovin' it.

[GreenEyedLefty]

6. Are they talking dainty 6 oz cups, or the tankards I drink in the morning...

If it's the latter, I only have 2 cups a day.

[Freddie]

7. My Granny was a "coffee hound"

Drank it all day. Lived to be 92, her mind clear to the end. She started me drinking it as a kid. None of that fancy stuff, she drank Maxwell House made in a stovetop percolater.

[Arkansas Granny]

8. That sounds like a lot of people in my family.

Most drank several cups of strong black coffee daily and lived into their 90's with few health problems.

[curlyred]

14. We just bought a new stove top percolator

Because we couldn't find a decent coffee pot. We use either the French press or the percolator.

[Arkansas Granny]

21. My grandmother would just put a handful of grounds in a pan of water and boil it for a while.

I swear you could stand a spoon up in a cup of her coffee. She used to refer to weak coffee as "buffalo water".

[demosincebirth]

34. WE use to call that "hobo" coffee.

[hobbit709]

9. Then I should have died 10 years ago.

I drink a lot more than that.

[Buns_of_Fire]

15. I think the caffeine keeps your body going, even after you're gone.

I date my death somewhere around 1996, but I had enough of a caffeine surplus built up by then to keep me somewhat ambulatory. I'm a coffee zombie.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

22. LOL. nt

[Benton D Struckcheon]

31. Do they give awards out around here for funny and good posts,

'cause that one's a keeper.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

12. I'll stick with my pot a day.

And two eggs every morning. I don't have time to read these studies that seem the change every week.

[madokie]

13. Most of a pot a day for me

bacon and eggs too

[randome]

16. I'm on my third week of caffeine withdrawal.

It's been an interesting experience.

For a few days I had flu-like symptoms but they passed. I had some coffee at Starbucks last week but I didn't much enjoy it. It's the kind of drug -like tobacco, soda, alcohol, etc.- where, if you don't partake every day, it loses its allure.

At least that's how it was with me.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Don't ever underestimate the long-term effects of a good night's sleep.[/center][/font][hr]

[reddread]

17. two or three pots a day over the last few years

down to one pot a day, most days lately.
i think it would kill me a lot faster if i tried not drinking it.

[ejpoeta]

18. I don't trust these studies. They are all over the place and change weekly.

Maybe if some consensus formed.... but there is no consensus. I drink 2-3 cups in the morning. Generally 2 before the kids get up. Unless I am cold or have a cold. Then I drink more. The warm drink helps my congestion. I am not sure if the coffee is so much the issue as what you put in it. I put 2 cream, 2 sugars in mine. I am sure that is worse than the coffee. I don't quite know how they can link coffee drinking with health issues. Seems there could be a number of causes. I have a weight problem.... I don't get enough exercise. I sure as heck don't get enough sleep. I have a family history of health problems like cancer, diabetes.... How can you pinpoint one factor in health problems when so many people have so many different possibilites.

[randome]

19. Not wagging my finger at you...

...but coffee is simply unnecessary. I think the more unnecessary things you put into your bloodstream, the more 'polluted' you make it.

Of course just about any food preparation we do is unnecessary but coffee can easily be cut from the equation and things actually level out more.

I'm sleeping better without caffeine in my system.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Don't ever underestimate the long-term effects of a good night's sleep.[/center][/font][hr]

[malaise]

20. Bob Marley's coffee song

[Bluenorthwest]

25. Oh Malaise. At the supermarket the other day I saw 'Marley Brand Coffee'

they label the roast with cutesy names taken from Bob's songs 'Get Up Stand Up' Morning Roast and that sort of thing. It felt funny but if it is useful to the local economy there then it is good...

[malaise]

26. LOL

I must try it one of these days

[Bluenorthwest]

30. Some of the beans are Jamaican so I too will try it sometime.

It's the best of coffees, that Blue Mountain coffee. Too spendy for the pure stuff here of course!

[Bluenorthwest]

23. There are entire cultures that don't drink coffee, so it should be super easy to

demonstrate that certain disease and early death is more prevalent among heavy coffee drinkers and those who drink none at all. The US has a major religious minority that abstains. Should be easy to show the differences statistically.

[Brickbat]

24. I swear a different coffee article comes out every week.

[Zorra]

27. They don't mention anything about the subjects being smokers, non-smokers, or

former smokers.

Shouldn't this be a prinmary consideration in assessing the data?

[roody]

28. "Twice as likely to die" !?

We all have the same odds.

[madokie]

29. Yup and we're all going to do that very thing

[oldhippie]

33. I caught that too ...

I thought WTF? We're all equally likely to die. 100% probability.

[dawg]

36. Men under 55 were twice as likely to die (in a given year) if they were heavy coffee drinkers.

Which could be because they were up and doing things as opposed to being in bed or sitting on the couch.

It says nothing about the effect on average lifespan or the effect on mortality for older heavy coffee drinkers. Sounds like an incomplete study that shows an interesting correlation but does nothing to explain it.

[whttevrr]

35. 1?

Bwah ha ha ha...

I have a 24 oz. Mug with Santa on it. But I only drink 2 "cups" a day... LOL! Now that I think about it, I do go through a lot of Half n Half and Honey...

Has anybody tried the Starbucks glazed old fashioned donut?

Next you people are going to tell me smoking is bad for me too, right?

Screw it, it just means less money that I need to hoard for 'retirenent'.