Overview

• Drinking one to two cups of caffeinated black coffee daily is associated with a 14 to 17 percent lower risk of death from all causes and cardiovascular disease.
• The protective effect peaks at two to three cups per day and weakens beyond three cups, with no further mortality reduction.
• Health benefits stem from coffee’s bioactive compounds and are linked to caffeine, with no significant longevity advantage observed for decaffeinated coffee.
• Coffee with high levels of added sugar or saturated fat shows no mortality benefit, supporting guidelines to limit these additives.
• Researchers analyzed data from nearly 46,000 US adults in NHANES (1999–2018) and matched it with National Death Index records in a study funded by the NIH.