Drinking coffee extends your lifespan, protects the heart and reduces the accumulation of visceral fat, but pay attention to when and how to drink coffee! In fact, in some cases drinking coffee can even alter blood sugar levels. All this emerges from three very recent scientific studies, the first published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology by an Australian team (Chieng et al, European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 2022), the second in the Nutrients journal by a Japanese team (Koyama et al. al, Nutrients, 2020) and finally the third in the British Journal of Nutrition by British scientists (Smith et al, BJN, 2020).
Coffee protects the heart and extends life
In the first study, scientists used data provided by UK Biobank on a sample of 449 563 volunteers, all aged 40 to 69 at the start of the study and followed for a period of 12 years. Scientists, in particular, compared coffee habits and health status. What emerged is that drinking coffee, instant, ground but also decaffeinated, is associated with a reduction in the risk of death caused by a disease. In particular, the greatest protection was observed with a daily amount of coffee equal to two or three cups. Drinking coffee, always between two and three cups a day, has also been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, with the highest protection provided by ground coffee, which has led to a risk reduction of 20% compared to 9% of decaffeinated coffee and 6% of instant coffee. Finally, drinking coffee, especially ground and instant, has also been shown to protect against arrhythmias. Coffee, therefore, with its active ingredients, more than 100, has been shown to protect the heart and extend the life span.
Never drink coffee on an empty stomach
But pay attention to how you drink coffee. In fact, this drink does not always ensure its maximum benefits. First of all, it is good to avoid drinking coffee on an empty stomach as soon as you wake up. Although this is a very common habit, in reality, as British research shows, it can alter blood sugar by reducing glucose tolerance. This happens especially if the coffee is not decaffeinated. But that's not all. Another research shows that, to get the maximum benefits from a cup of coffee, it is necessary to avoid taking it on an empty stomach. In fact, as the Japanese study shows, if you also eat bread with coffee, as can happen for breakfast, then the anti-obesity benefits of coffee are maximized. In fact, eating bread and drinking coffee has been shown to reduce visceral fat more than when coffee is taken without bread.
Conclusions
Therefore, drinking coffee is good, protects the heart and extends the lifespan. But the idea of just drinking a cup of coffee and starting the day right away is not exactly the best, for the purposes of health and body weight control. On the other hand, it is certainly much better to indulge in a complete breakfast, also with carbohydrates that, when combined with coffee, further stimulate the metabolism!
