Study brews up more evidence for coffee’s health benefits

The benefits of drinking coffee continue to filter in.

An analysis of more than 200,000 medical professionals followed for nearly 30 years finds that drinking up to five cups of coffee a day is associated with reduced risk of dying early from heart and brain diseases as well as suicide.

The study’s results were adjusted for factors like smoking, weight and diet. Benefits were more pronounced for those who had never smoked, an international team of researchers report November 16 in Circulation.

Both caffeinated and decaf java had positive effects, leading the researchers to speculate that coffee’s potency as a health elixir may stem from chemical compounds in the bean such as diterpenes and chlorogenic acids.