NIH study finds that coffee drinkers have lower risk of death

Also, information was not available on how the coffee was prepared (espresso, boiled, filtered, etc.); the researchers consider it possible that preparation methods may affect the levels of any protective components in coffee.

I wonder who pays for these studies... It seems like this article was written to be misquoted by tabloids all over the world.

I'm completely serious in asking - I passed my 30th birthday a couple weeks ago and even for the past few years my aunt and others I know always ask how I get by without it. I have no aversion to it and would drink it if I needed a boost due to a poor night's sleep, but that would be maybe once every few months at most. This doesn't make me special at all so I'm not boasting or anything - the only reason I don't drink it(other than fear of stained teeth) is because I don't want to develop a need* for it, i.e. "I can't start my day until I've had that first mug". That would hardly be the worst thing in the world, but I'd just rather avoid it if I could.

For what it's worth I typically get 6-7 hours of sleep each night, and I exercise several times a week.

*I would typically use the word addiction, but that might be a little too strong given the context

Shouldn't this read "lower risk of health-related death causes?" or something similar.

Seems like a link-bait type headline with a lot of sketchy information to be considered a scientific study.

Also, correlation /=/ causation.

Although we cannot infer a causal relationship between coffee drinking and lower risk of death, we believe these results do provide some reassurance that coffee drinking does not adversely affect health."

"Neal Freedman, Ph.D., Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, NCI, and his colleagues examined the association between coffee drinking and risk of death in 400,000 U.S. men and women ages 50 to 71 who participated in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study. Information about coffee intake was collected once by questionnaire at study entry in 1995-1996. The participants were followed until the date they died or Dec. 31, 2008, whichever came first."

Collecting data about coffee use only once would of course miss collecting data about people whose habits changed during the course of the study.

"The researchers found that the association between coffee and reduction in risk of death increased with the amount of coffee consumed. Relative to men and women who did not drink coffee, those who consumed three or more cups of coffee per day had approximately a 10 percent lower risk of death."

Looking at the data to see if there is a dose response is a key issue in observational studies of this kind that many other studies miss. This isn't the last word on the subject, for the reason mentioned above and for other reasons mentioned in other comments, but at least here the study authors are treating coffee use as a quantitative independent variable and not just as a binary variable.

For the record, I began daily use of coffee (one cup each morning with breakfast) only after age forty. I asked around a long time before learning how to establish a habit that would not spiral into increasingly heavy use and physiological tolerance that would keep me upping my dosage for years and years and years. I come from a family with varying coffee-drinking habits but generally long lifespans.

I seem to recall (but can't find a good reference at the moment) that one of the many puzzles in the area is why American studies more often find positive results than European studies; possibly relates to the kind of coffee consumed or methods of preparation, or possibly to interactions with other factors, or different demographic correlates.

Unfortunately, drinking too much coffee in one go can kill you, as it is toxic.

But maybe coffee gives some odds?

It's like saying a nitro boost usage in car racing causes winning. Yes, at a penalty of burning out the engine.