For the college kids who like double shots of espresso in their coffee, you might want to skip that second, third and definitely fourth cup.
"A study of more than 40,000 individuals found a statistically significant 21% increased mortality in those drinking more than 28 cups of coffee a week and death from all causes, with a greater than 50% increased mortality risk in both men and women younger than 55 years of age," Mayo Clinic Proceedings said in a news release. "Investigators warn that younger people in particular may need to avoid heavy coffee consumption. No adverse effects were found in heavy coffee drinkers aged over 55."
Consuming coffee is a normal part of the day routine for some, and 60% of Americans reportedly drink three cups a day on average. However, coffee may be contributing to health conditions.
The Mayo Clinic release the following about the study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings:
A multicenter research team investigated the effect of coffee consumption on death from all causes and deaths from cardiovascular disease in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study (ACLS) cohort, with an average follow-up period of 16 years and a relatively large sample size of over 40,000 men and women.
Between 1979 and 1998, nearly 45,000 individuals aged between 20 and 87 years old participated and returned a medical history questionnaire assessing lifestyle habits (including coffee consumption) and personal and family medical history. The investigators examined a total of 43,727 participants (33,900 men and 9,827 women) in their final analysis.
During the 17-year median follow-up period there were 2,512 deaths (men: 87.5%; women: 12.5%), 32% of these caused by cardiovascular disease. Those who consumed higher amounts of coffee (both men and women) were more likely to smoke and had lower levels of cardiorespiratory fitness.
All participants were followed from the baseline examination to date of death or until December 31, 2003. Deaths from all causes and deaths from cardiovascular disease were identified through the National Death Index or by accessing death certificates.
Drinking 28 cups per week for younger men means there was a 56% increase in mortality from all causes. Younger women who drank more than 28 cups of coffee per week increased their mortality rates.
"Thus, all of these mechanisms could counterbalance one another. Research also suggests that heavy coffee drinkers may experience additional risk through potential genetic mechanisms or because of confounding through the deleterious effects of other risk factors with which coffee drinking is associated," said lead authors, Junxiu Liu, MD, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, and Xuemei Sui, MD, MPH, PhD, Department of Exercise Science, both at the Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, "Therefore, we hypothesize that the positive association between coffee and mortality may be due to the interaction of age and coffee consumption, combined with a component of genetic coffee addiction."
