From Nicholas Bakalar, who notes a study showing that people who drink more coffee have a reduced risk of death - a correlation (not necessarily a cause):
Researchers followed more than 200,000 doctors and nurses for up to 30 years. The participants had periodic physical examinations and completed questionnaires on diet and behavior, including their coffee habits. The study is in Circulation.
Compared with abstainers, nonsmokers who drank a cup of coffee a day had a 6 percent reduced risk of death, one to three cups an 8 percent reduced risk, three to five cups a 15 percent reduced risk, and more than five cups a 12 percent reduced risk. There was little difference whether they drank caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee. The association persisted after controlling for age, alcohol consumption, B.M.I. and other health and diet factors.
Coffee drinking was linked to a reduced risk of death from heart disease, stroke, diabetes, neurological diseases and suicide, although not from cancer.
But did they consider those studies(2002, 2005, 2006, 2009) that have identified a single nugget of our DNA that seems to determine whether we process caffeine quickly or slowly? That, in turn, appears to have a large effect on whether coffee is good for your health.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, one would have to dig into the article and its references, the link indicates that a free PDF of the article is available. These were large cohort studies that didn't involve any genetic typing.
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