How to Take Your Coffee to Reduce Your Risk of Death

You're doing yourself a favor in drinking your daily cup of joe—so long as you're not adding too much unhealthy stuff, according to new research. The study, published in the Journal of Nutrition, finds drinking one to three cups of caffeinated coffee per day is linked to a lower risk of death from all causes, but only if the coffee isn't loaded with too much cream and sugar. Tufts University researchers analyzed health and diet data from 46,000 adults aged 20 or older between 1999 and 2018, finding mortality benefits for those who drank one to three cups per day with limited additives.

Drinking caffeinated coffee black and with low levels of added sugar (about half a teaspoon of sugar per 8-ounce cup) and saturated fat (about 1 tablespoon of light cream or half-and-half) was associated with a 14% lower risk of all-cause mortality, "but when sugar and saturated fat increased, the benefit disappeared," per Earth.com. "The health benefits of coffee might be attributable to its bioactive compounds, but our results suggest that the addition of sugar and saturated fat may reduce the mortality benefits," senior study author Fang Fang Zhang says in a release.

At least one cup of caffeinated coffee per day was linked to a 16% lower risk of all-cause mortality, while two to three cups meant a 17% lower risk. But drinking more than three cups did not come with added protection, and the reduced risk of death by cardiovascular disease actually weakened. As with previous studies, researchers noted the lack of an association between decaffeinated coffee and all-cause mortality could be due to the low consumption among the study group, per Newsweek. (More coffee stories.)