Coffee: In the News Again

Doesn't it seem like every month there is a different article touting the benefits of coffee and then directly followed by one that says it is bad? Compounds native to the coffee bean include antioxidants that have been linked to a lower risk of skin cancer, Alzheimer’s, heart disease and diabetes. The latest, published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, studied health records of 45,000 people who reported their coffee-drinking habits and concluded that younger people under age 55 who drank more than 28 cups a week were 21% more likely to die prematurely during the 17 year study than those who drank less. So is that morning cup of coffee a health-booster or a health hazard? That answer depends on how the studies that examine this question are designed, and by extension, the type of coffee in question — as well as who is doing the drinking. Unlike the latest analysis above, some studies in the past did not adjust for factors other than coffee that could affect outcomes like mortality, cancer rates or cognitive measures. To complicate matters even more, these effects can greatly vary from person to person. Plus, our bodies tend to adapt to the various components in coffee, including caffeine, so each individual’s response to it may even change over time.