Coffee’s benefits were most apparent in moderate coffee consumers, who consume between 1.5 and 3.5 cups each day.
Unsweetened and sweetened coffee were both linked to a decreased chance of death. Sweetened coffee, on the other hand, proved to be slightly superior than those who didn’t ingest any sugar in their cup of brew.
Sweetened coffee drinkers were 31% less likely to die, while unsweetened coffee users were 21% less likely to pass away.
According to the researchers, individuals who used artificial sweeteners had “less clear” results.
Coffee’s link to a reduced risk of death
“Coffee has been shown in studies to protect the heart and help with other illnesses,” Liu said.
However, previous studies on the health advantages of drinking coffee have not looked at whether particular sweetener use has any effect on health.
Liu said the objective of her team’s study was to determine how this might influence their findings.
The current study was designed as a prospective cohort study, which means that participants would be placed in groups who were comparable in every respect except for how they drank their coffee. Then, over time, researchers would observe how they fared.
The researchers came up with their findings by using the UK Biobank database. This repository contains information on approximately 500,000 individuals who have offered researchers access to their medical and genetic data.
Overall, everyone who was not affected by cancer or cardiovascular disease at the start of the study was included. The average age of participants in the study was 55.6 years old. These individuals were followed from 2009 through 2018.
People were asked about their coffee usage and whether or not they used artificial sweeteners, sugar, or no sweetener.
“On average, adults that sweetened their coffee added just one teaspoon of sugar,” stated Liu.
The research team determined all-cause mortality, cancer mortality, and heart disease mortality using death certificates.
The researchers discovered a U-shaped link between coffee consumption and mortality risk after analyzing the data.
Those who consumed on a daily basis had significantly better results than those who did so on a less or more frequent basis.
However, the researchers pointed out that the data is ten years old. It’s also from a nation where tea is a popular beverage, which may have skewed the findings.
The researchers also wrote that the individuals in their study consumed far less sugar than what is added in many chain coffee shops’ beverages. This makes comparing the participants of the study to consumers of coffee from outlets like Starbucks impossible.