Coffee drinkers may have healthier lifestyles
Coffee drinkers in the U.S. seem to fit a similar profile. Seventy percent of Americans with an annual household income of $150,000 or more drink coffee, compared to 54% of Americans in a household making less than $25,000 a year, according to consumer market research firm Experian Simmons.
Research has shown for decades that poorer people are more likely to die from virtually any cause than people with a higher socioeconomic status. Wealthier people are more likely to be physically active and eat healthier, and less likely to smoke—behaviors that could prevent some of the conditions assumed to be affected by coffee. “That’s the problem [with most of the studies done on coffee],” says Vinson. “There’s no perfect study out there because they can’t control all the variables. The problem with a human study is everybody’s different.”
To isolate the benefits of the coffee in particular, newer studies have focused on filtering out the effects of less-than-healthy behaviors, like smoking, that coffee drinkers are likely to engage in. In a 2008 study, Esther Lopez-Garcia, PhD, a researcher in the department of preventive medicine and public health at the Autonomous University of Madrid, in Spain, found that coffee drinkers had a slightly lower risk of death from all causes than people who didn’t drink coffee. Although the participants in her study were all nurses and health professionals, she says the results are probably applicable to people with similar education and socioeconomic status. “However,” she warns, “[generalizing the results] has to be made with precaution, because it’s clear that socioeconomic status influences mortality.” Of course, coffee isn’t a quick fix, and may even cause problems in some people. It can worsen existing heart conditions, and caffeine could cause sleeping problems, as well as a racing heartbeat and anxiety. Plus, many coffee drinkers are only adding calories and fat to their diet by mixing in heavy cream and too much sugar. More research needs to be completed before doctors can recommend coffee to their patients, experts say.
“It is always difficult to give dietary recommendations based on studies that lasted only several months, because they cannot investigate long-term effects,” says Christian Herder, PhD, a diabetes researcher at Heinrich Heine University, in Dusseldorf, Germany. In a 2010 study, for instance, Herder found that changes in coffee-drinking habits had no adverse effects on diabetes risk factors. But because the study lasted only three months, he says, it didn’t provide enough evidence to directly recommend—or prohibit—drinking coffee. “There seems to be no reason to discourage middle-aged men and women from drinking coffee,” Herder adds.
However, says Lopez-Garcia, “anyone with health problems that can be worsened by coffee—insomnia, anxiety, hypertension, or heart problems—should ask the doctor about his specific risk.”
A better understanding of the risks and benefits of coffee might not come anytime soon. “Studies are few and far between,” says Vinson. Plus, he says, many of the studies that have been done entailed “super-high consumptions” (12 cups a day, for example) and may not apply to the normal amount Americans typically drink. So far, evidence of coffee’s health benefits is limited. “I want to be convinced, but I haven’t been. It’s not cause and effect; it’s just a hint,” says Vinson. “[But] there are a lot of wonderful hints.”
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In the meantime, coffee drinkers can still dare to hope their precious brew is also good for them. Murszewski says she has noticed benefits from her java habit. “I have not asked my doctor about the benefits of coffee, although I have noticed that when suffering from a migraine, coffee helps,” she says. “It’s not full-blown with drinking coffee.”
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