Daily coffee fix 'could boost longevity'

Regular consumption of coffee could help reduce risk of death from heart disease, a new study suggests.

Research findings published in Annals of Internal Medicine showed that drinking up to six cups of coffee per day is not linked to increased risk of premature death but can in fact serve as a protective measure against dying sooner than expected.

Lead author of the report Dr Esther Lopez-Garcia commented: "Coffee consumption has been linked to various beneficial and detrimental health effects, but data on its relation with death were lacking.

"Coffee consumption was not associated with a higher risk of mortality in middle-aged men and women. The possibility of a modest benefit of coffee consumption on heart disease, cancer, and other causes of death needs to be further investigated."

According to the latest findings, women who drink two to three cups of caffeinated coffee a day were 25 per cent less likely to die from heart disease than non-coffee drinkers.

However, the researchers stated that while coffee drinkers presented lower risk of dying from heart disease, there was no link between coffee consumption and death from cancer.

Previous studies have shown that regular coffee drinkers are less at risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who avoid coffee.