Coffee drinkers DO live longer – ‘caffeine protects against cancer, Alzheimer’s, heart disease and depression’
THE caffeine in your morning cup of coffee may do more than give you that much-needed boost, experts have revealed.
That latte may also reduce your risk of cancer, Alzheimer's and heart disease, they said.
That's because caffeine helps reduce inflammation in the body, a new study has shown.
When the inflammatory mechanism in the body is highly wound up, people tended to have high blood pressure and stiff arteries.
But lab tests found caffeine blocked this process - which is a driver for heart disease and increased mortality rates.
Lead author, Dr David Furman, a consulting associate professor at the Stanford Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection, said: "More than 90 per cent of all noncommunicable diseases of ageing are associated with chronic inflammation.
"More than 1,000 papers have provided evidence that chronic inflammation contributes to many cancers, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis and even depression.
"It’s also well-known that caffeine intake is associated with longevity.
"Many studies have shown this association.
"We’ve found a possible reason for why this may be so."
The study, published in Nature Medicine, analysed blood samples, medical and family history from more than 100 people over 10-years.
They focused on two genes that are known to cause chronic inflammation and also looked at two groups in the older participants; ones with high levels of the genes and ones who don't.
Those with high levels of the genes were more likely to have high blood pressure and stiff arteries whereas those with low levels of the genes were eight times more likely to have had a family member live past 90 years old.
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Scientists then discovered that blood from the low-risk group was enriched with caffeine.
Mark Davis, the director of the Stanford Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection, said: "That something many people drink — and actually like to drink — might have a direct benefit came as a surprise to us.
"What we’ve shown is a correlation between caffeine consumption and longevity. And we’ve shown more rigorously, in laboratory tests, a very plausible mechanism for why this might be so."