Drinking three to four cups of coffee a day is more likely to be a benefit to health than harmful to it, according to the latest study of the beverage published today.
The research, published in the latest edition of BMJ, claims that the beverage is associated with a lower risk of death and developing heart disease compared with drinking no coffee. It is also associated with lower risk of some cancers, diabetes, liver disease and dementia.
However, these benefits did not extend to women who are pregnant and the research also concluded that coffee drinking may be linked to a very small increased risk of fracture in some women.
A research team led by Dr Robin Poole, specialist registrar in public health at the University of Southampton, UK, worked with scientists at the University of Edinburgh to carry out an umbrella review of 201 studies. These mainly used observational data.
Although no firm conclusions about cause and effect can be made, their findings back up evidence from other recent reviews and studies of coffee intake.
Excluding coffee drinking among women who are pregnant or who are at increased risk of fractures, the team said “coffee drinking appears safe within usual patterns of consumption” and suggested that coffee could be safely tested in randomised trials.
Drinking coffee was consistently associated with a lower risk of death from all causes and from heart disease. Although drinking more than three cups a day was not associated with any harm, the benefits were less pronounced.
They also found that coffee was also associated with a lower risk of several cancers, including prostate, endometrial, skin and liver cancer, as well as type 2 diabetes, gallstones and gout. However, the greatest benefit was seen for liver conditions.
The authors call for robust randomised controlled trials “to understand whether the key observed associations are causal”.
Poole R, Kennedy OJ, Roderick P et al. Coffee consumption and health: umbrella review of meta-analyses of multiple health outcomes. BMJ 23 November 2017; doi:10.1136/bmj.j5024 [abstract]
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