Drinking coffee may lower heart attack, diabetes risk: study

Boston – Moderate coffee drinking might lower the risk of death from diabetes and heart attacks, concludes a new study from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Researchers pulled data from three ongoing studies featuring more than 200,000 men and women. Among non-smokers who drank less than five cups of coffee a day, researchers found a lower risk of death due to cardiovascular and neurological diseases, type 2 diabetes, and suicide. The results were seen in drinkers of both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee, suggesting it is not caffeine providing the benefits but a chemical compound in the beans.

Despite the findings, the researchers urged caution because the study was not designed to show a causal relationship between coffee and lower death risks. Additionally, the study results should not be interpreted as a recommendation that all population groups should regularly drink coffee, such as children and pregnant women.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and published online Nov. 16 in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.