Coffee used to be blamed for everything from high blood pressure and high cholesterol (and thus heart disease) to pancreatic cancer, fibrocystic breasts, and bone loss. But better studies in more recent years have almost always refuted the older findings and have even suggested that this beloved beverage may have health benefits, including reduced risk of melanoma, colon cancer, endometrial cancer, liver disease, diabetes, and cognitive decline.
The findings are not robust enough to recommend that you start drinking coffee, but if you do already, science appears to back your habit. Here are results of two observational studies from 2020 suggesting beneficial effects of your cuppa joe—and one showing a quirkier consequence.
- Less body fat. Women who regularly drank coffee had less total body and abdominal fat than their coffee-abstaining counterparts, according to a study in the Journal of Nutrition that analyzed data from more than 5,600 people, ages 20 to 69. The more coffee the women consumed, including decaf, the greater the effect, as seen on body scans. As has been the case in prior studies, no dose-response relationship was observed in men, possibly for reasons relating to differences in sex hormones, the researchers speculated.
- Better heart health and longevity—especially when a filter is used in brewing. A 20-year study in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology of more than 500,000 healthy Norwegian men and women, ages 20 to 79, linked coffee consumption to overall reduced mortality, compared to abstaining. But those who drank filtered coffee (one to four cups a day) had the lowest risk of premature death, including from cardiovascular disease. Brewing methods in which ground coffee comes in direct contact with hot water—such as French press or espresso—leave behind higher concentrations of diterpene compounds (kahweol and cafestol) that raise blood cholesterol, whereas a filter traps them, which could partly explain the better results seen in those drinking filtered coffee.
- Altered taste perceptions. A Danish study in the journal Foods found that within minutes of consuming regular or decaf coffee, participants more easily perceived a sweet solution on the tongue and found it harder to perceive a bitter taste (but had no changes in perception of sour or salty tastes). As the authors noted, this may help explain the affinity that some people have for pairing bitter dark chocolate with black coffee. The findings could have wider implications for research into how people can consume less sugar yet still be able to perceive the sweetness they enjoy.
Final note: Of course, all things in moderation, so don’t overdo your coffee consumption. A large review of studies in 2017 concluded that coffee “seems generally safe within usual levels of intake,” with benefits seen at intakes of up to three to four cups a day.
