– Coffee is one of the
healthiest beverages available. Now, in another video I
looked at the more immediate benefits of coffee consumption,
but studies also show that coffee drinkers have a
much lower risk of several serious diseases, and
that's what we're looking at in today's video. (chime rings) Coffee appears to lower your
risk of type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is a
gigantic heath problem currently afflicting about
300 million people worldwide. Now, for some reason,
coffee drinkers seem to have a significantly reduced
risk of developing it. Studies show that people
who drink the most coffee have a 23 to 50% lower risk
of getting type 2 diabetes, with one study showing a
reduction as high as 67%. According to a massive review
of 18 studies with a total of more than 450,000 individuals,
each daily cup of coffee was associated with a 7%
reduced risk of developing the disease.
Of course, we can
confidently say that these protective effects of coffee
consumption are pretty much nonexistent once you start
adding sugar to your coffee or enjoying your coffee
with cookies or cakes or other snacks. Coffee may protect you from dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's is the most common
neurodegenerative disease and the most common cause
of dementia worldwide. Unfortunately, there is no cure. Because of this, it is
a big topic of focus for researchers. Several studies show that coffee drinkers have up to 65% lower risk of
getting Alzheimer's disease. This may be mediated by caffeine
and or other mechanisms, like antioxidant capacity and
increased insulin sensitivity, but researchers can only
speculate right now. The one big inconsistency is
that there doesn't seem to be a dose-response relationship, which means that those who are drinking high amounts
of coffee don't seem to be better off or at lower
risk than those who drink moderate amounts of coffee. So for preventing Alzheimer's disease, the best bet, as per usual, is to eat a consistently healthy diet and exercise regularly.
Coffee appears to have
protective effects on the liver. The liver is a truly amazing
organ that carries out all sorts of important
functions in the body. Unfortunately, several
common diseases can lead to a condition called cirrhosis,
in which the liver has been largely replaced by scar tissue. It turns out that coffee may
protect against cirrhosis, with those who drink
four or more cups per day shown to have an 80% lower risk, and these findings apply to both alcoholic and nonalcoholic liver cirrhosis. Coffee may help you live longer. Now, given that coffee drinkers
are less likely to develop certain diseases, it
makes sense that coffee could help you live longer. There are several big studies
that are showing this trend. In a groundbreaking study at the time, over 400,000 individuals
between the age of 50 and 71 had been asked about
their coffee consumption. The results were fairly remarkable. After following the
people for 12 to 13 years, those who drank the most coffee were significantly less
likely to have died. Now, as you can see from the graph, the more coffee people drank, the lower their risk of death was. The sweet spot seems to be
at four to five cups per day, where men had a 12% reduced risk, and women had a 16% reduced risk.
Drinking six or more cups per day provided no additional benefit. Since then, other huge
observational studies have been published with similar findings. Interestingly, the
benefits are also observed with decaffeinated coffee intake, which suggests much of the
health benefits are from compounds other than caffeine. I need to mention that all
these benefits are based on observational studies, which
cannot prove that coffee on its own caused the associated benefits or reduced risks. Nevertheless, it's great reassurance that, at the very least,
coffee is not the villain it was once made out to be. Thanks for watching. If you haven't seen our other video on the health benefits of
coffee, you should check it out by clicking the YouTube card,
or you can find the link in the video's description. And if you haven't
already, please subscribe to the Authority Nutrition YouTube Channel by clicking the big red
button below this video.
