Does sugar sweeten the benefits of coffee?

New studies show that drinking a few cups of coffee a day (even with sugar) reduces the risk of death.

People who drank a moderate amount of coffee daily were about 30% less likely to die for any reason during the seven years than those who did not. UK Biobank Cohort, ongoing health information study in the United Kingdom.

Chen Mao, MD and co-authors of Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China, report inconsistent results for those who used artificial sweeteners in coffee. Annual report of internal medicine..

“Drinking coffee was associated with a lower risk of dying, with or without sugar,” said Christina Wee, MD, MPH. Annual report of internal medicineI enjoy drinking coffee with cream and sugar on a regular basis.

“The authors defined drinking a moderate level of coffee as drinking 1.5 to 3.5 cups of coffee,” she said. “They found that regular drinking of moderate levels of coffee was associated with a lower risk of dying from any cause, dying from cancer, and dying from heart disease.”

“It was true that drinking a moderate level of coffee, regardless of whether you drank decaffeinated coffee, instant coffee, or ground coffee, had a lower risk of dying,” he added.

Previous observational studies have shown a U-shaped relationship between coffee consumption and all-cause mortality, with people who drink moderate amounts of coffee daily having the lowest risk and the highest potential benefit. It is suggested that. Ancillary editorial..

A new study looks at the health effects of popular beverages with a new twist and focuses on whether adding real or artificial sugar counteracts the potential health benefits of coffee. I did.

Study continued on 171,616 UK Biobank Participants who did not have cardiovascular disease or cancer at the start of the study (mean age 55.6 years).

Participants were invited to complete an online 24-hour meal recall questionnaire five times a year from April 2009 to June 2012. Mortality data was obtained from the death certificate up to February 25, 2018.

About 76% of the participants were coffee drinkers. Most people (55.4%) drank unsweetened coffee. 14.3% used sugar in coffee (an average of about 1 teaspoon per cup) and 6.1% used artificial sweeteners.

With a median follow-up of 7 years, there were 3,177 deaths, including 1,725 ​​cancer deaths and 628 cardiovascular deaths.

Overall, researchers have found that people who drank any amount of unsweetened coffee were less likely to die for any reason during the follow-up period than those who did not drink coffee. People who drank 1.5 to 3.5 cups of unsweetened or sugar-sweetened coffee daily were 29% to 31% less likely to die than those who did not drink coffee.

The associations were similar when researchers focused solely on cancer deaths or cardiovascular deaths.

This study had some limitations. Participant data is at least 10 years old, and Mao and co-authors admit that tea was collected in countries as popular as coffee.

Wee pointed out that the benefits of coffee are far from the science of settling. And she observed that the study didn’t really answer what many Americans need to know.

“The average amount of sugar added per cup of sweetened coffee was just over a teaspoon, or about 4 grams,” she pointed out. “this is, 15 grams of sugar A popular American coffee chain with 8 ounces of caramel macchiato. “

“We cannot conclude that drinking coffee reduces the risk of death, but the whole evidence is that most coffee drinkers, especially those who do not have any sugar or drink in moderate amounts, need to eliminate coffee. It does not suggest that there is, “Wee wrote. ..

“So drink,” she added, “but it would be wise to avoid too much caramel macchiato while more evidence is brewed.”