Filtering Through the Coffee Studies

June 17, 2008— -- Coffee drinking -- even more than six cups a day over the course of almost 20 years -- won't kill you, and may even help you live longer, says a new study.

Researchers from Harvard and the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid used 20 years of surveys from two groups of health professionals to draw their conclusion: death does not come any sooner for those who drink more coffee.

"I think the main conclusion is that, for those coffee drinkers, they can be quite sure that coffee doesn't increase their risk of death," said Esther Lopez-Garcia, the study's lead author.

So, time to break out the Folgers or head over to Starbucks, right?

Not so fast. People love drinking coffee -- the National Coffee Association estimates that the United States imported almost 6 million bags in the last three months of 2006 alone; so, coffee, like red wine or dark chocolate, is a popular choice for these kinds of studies.

But the results are not uniform. Some studies say there is no harm, others proclaim a benefit, while still others warn of dire consequences if you so much as look at that cup of joe in the morning.

So, what are we to make of this latest news?

"It's one more study to add to the puzzle, but the message remains: Coffee in a healthful eating plan is OK, but it's not a magic food," said Connie Diekman, former president of the American Dietetic Association.

In other words, coffee isn't going to hurt you, but there's no need to start gulping it down if you weren't drinking it before. While the study is new, its findings aren't that different from what your doctor probably would have told you.

"This has been studied for decades, and putting all the studies together, there is no benefit nor harm," said Dr. Gordon A. Ewy, chief of cardiology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, who was not involved with the study.

Even the researchers on this study say the findings should be taken with caution.

"Epidemiological studies have many limitations, and we need more studies in different populations with similar results in order to understand how diet can have an effect in our health," said Lopez-Garcia.