Is Coffee Really the Fountain of Youth?

by Wayne Persky

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An interesting article was recently published comparing coffee consumption with Ponce de Leon's mythical "Fountain of Youth" (Jackson, 2024, December 9).1 The fact that the research was financed by stakeholders in the coffee industry might be construed by many as a negative attribute, but that doesn't mean that the research findings are not valid. The research suggested that regular, moderate coffee consumption (3 cups per day) is associated with a 17% reduction in all cause mortality (Lopes, and Cunha, 2024).2 Furthermore, the researchers found that it's linked to an average lifespan extension of 1.8 years, and it improves the quality of those additional years.​

Coffee reduces disease risk and effects of aging.

Regular coffee consumption is correlated with reduced risks of major age-related diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease (such as stroke), cancer, and respiratory disease. And it mitigates age-related functional deterioration such as memory loss, depression, and frailty

Ingredients such as caffeine and chlorogenic acids provide specific benefits.

Caffeine appears to be the major pharmacologically active compound in coffee, and it's considered to be a mild central nervous system stimulant. Chlorogenic acids determine most of the taste of coffee, providing a range of flavor, depending on the concentration. And they're believed to be the source of the unpleasant taste that can be associated with prolonged brewing.​

Caffeine and chlorogenic acids enhance stress adaptation, reduce inflammation, improve metabolic health, and preserve cellular mechanisms crucial for aging, such as genomic stability (basically defined as the prevention of errors from DNA replication) and proteostasis (the process that regulates proteins within the cell in order to maintain the health of both the cell and the organism itself). And coffee acts as a "normalizer", stabilizing physiological symptoms rather than merely being a psychostimulant.

The research included data from over 50 epidemiological studies.

The meta study included data from almost 3 million individuals from various geographic regions and ethnic groups, which provides a relatively high degree of statistical significance to the findings. And to add additional credibility to the findings, the study found that regular coffee drinkers experienced improved health outcomes, regardless of demographic differences.=

That said, since the study was financed by corporations with an interest in the coffee industry, the potential for "selection bias" (regarding the selection of studies to be included in this meta-study) exists, which may have skewed the selection of studies to those with positive outcomes over those with neutral or negative outcomes.

Other issues that may have confounded the results:

Another possible issue that might have caused results to be skewed is the possibility that individuals with certain pre-existing conditions (such as hypertension, arrhythmias, or digestive disorders) may avoid drinking coffee.​

And while caffeine and chlorogenic acids are the most studied components, coffee contains thousands of bioactive compounds with uncertain individual contributions to health benefits. It's unknown whether any of these compounds have any effects on issues such as stem cells and tissue regeneration.

The study suggests that:

Consistent epidemiological trends suggest that coffee can improve longevity and reduce age-related diseases, although causation remains uncertain. Coffee may transition from being seen as a stimulant or indulgence, to a health-promoting beverage, and moderate coffee consumption could be considered part of a healthy lifestyle, especially for aging populations.​

While coffee may offer health benefits, it's not a cure-all. Benefits likely depend on individual health, genetics, and lifestyle factors. Excessive consumption or consumption by those with contraindications (such as anxiety, insomnia, or heart conditions) may counteract potential benefits.

So is coffee drinking the fountain of youth for MC patients?

That's a fair question, in view of the general recommendations by most doctors that IBD patients should avoid drinking coffee. But as most of us have found, as long as we don't add anything to the coffee that's contraindicated for MC patients, if coffee didn't cause major digestive system problems for us before we developed MC, then it shouldn't cause any major problems after we develop MC.

And even if it doesn't turn out to be the fountain of youth for us, it's definitely one of life's little pleasures that most of us would rather not eliminate from our daily routine. It gives us something to look forward to every morning, and adds to our enjoyment of life. And if it's actually improving our health, and extending our longevity in the process, how could that not be a good thing?

That said, that doesn't mean that all of us can safely drink 3 cups of coffee every morning, especially while we're still recovering. We all have to determine our boundaries as we fine tune our diet, and coffee is no exception. Consequently, most of us will find that our coffee drinking has to be adapted to our own individual needs.

References

1. Jackson, J. (2024, December 9). Industry-funded study suggests coffee really is the fountain of youth. Medical Xpress, Retrieved from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-12-industry-funded-coffee-fountain-youth.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter

2. Lopes, C. R. and Cunha, R. A. (2024). Impact of coffee intake on human aging: Epidemiology and cellular mechanisms. Ageing Research Reviews, 102, 102581. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1568163724003994?via%3Dihub