Scientists: Drinking coffee can extend life by five years

One study showed that participants with mental health problems who drank four cups of coffee a day had a lower biological age.Here, experts explain the findings.

- A recent study links daily coffee drinking with a younger biological age in a certain group.

- The study looked at people with severe mental health problems and found that participants who drank a certain amount of coffee were biologically five years younger than participants who did not drink coffee.

- Experts explain what the findings mean and how they can be applied to the public.

You officially have an excuse to pour that third cup of coffee you've been discussing internally.New research links drinking three to four cups of coffee a day to slowing biological aging, extending life expectancy by up to five years.

Meet the experts: Gary Small, M.D., psychiatrist and director of clinical practice at Hackensack Meridian Health; and David J. Fein, M.D., associate professor of clinical psychiatry at LSUHSC School of Medicine in New Orleans.

The study participants were people with severe mental illness (SMI), but experts say the findings may be applicable to the general public.This isn't the first study to link coffee drinking to longevity.

Below, experts explain exactly how this differs and how a simple everyday pleasure like a cup of coffee has the potential to have such an impact.

What did this study find?

The study, published in BMJ Mental Health, followed 436 people with SMI and found that participants who drank three to four cups of coffee a day had a lower biological age of up to five years compared to coffee drinkers.Therefore, coffee drinkers are likely to live five years longer.The benefits remained stable and declined when the amount consumed reached five cups per day.The study did not reveal how the participants drank the coffee (ie black or with cream and sugar).

Natural age was measured by telomere length, which was collected through blood samples."Telomere length is a stretch of DNA at the end of chromosomes that protects genes during cell division," explains Gary Small, MD, a clinical psychologist and director of advanced health care at Hackensack Meridian Health.but a mediator or a symbol of life's long life".

The study included individuals with severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia, major depression and bipolar disorder."Telomeres are very sensitive to oxidative stress and inflammation, which are common in SCI patients and likely contribute to telomere shortening," says David J. Fenn, MD, assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at the LSUHSC School of Medicine in New Orleans."The longer the telomeres, the less chromosome degeneration and less cellular damage with aging."

How coffee can improve life expectancy

A morning cup of java can prolong life with antioxidants, growth experts say.Coffee contains antioxidant and anti-inflammatory plant compounds that "help reduce the effects of oxidative stress and inflammation, thus protecting telomere length," explains Dr. Fein.

Dr Small added: "Oxidative stress is a major driver of accelerated aging and elevated inflammation contributes to many age-related diseases that reduce lifespan, including cancer, dementia and heart disease.

Coffee contains caffeine, "which itself has been linked to increasing the length of telomeres by increasing certain enzymes that are involved in the length and maintenance of telomeres, namely the enzyme TERT (telomerase reverse transcriptase)", explains Dr.

Bottom line

"While these findings may be relevant to the general population, making such generalizations is a big step," says Dr. Small.

For that reason, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends not exceeding 400 milligrams of caffeine per day, which is the equivalent of about two to three 12-ounce cups of coffee.That recommendation is slightly lower than the study participants' intakes.It's also worth noting that most of the research on the benefits of coffee applies to black coffee without cream or sugar, limiting the drink's health benefits., and can also contribute to metabolic health issues