Moderate coffee intake could boost health by preserving the length of telomeres which sit on the end of chromosomes, changes to which are part of the ageing process
Drinking three to four cups of coffee a day can slow biological aging, research suggests.
Research looking at the length of telomeres, indicative of cellular ageing, showed that such regular coffee drinkers were the equivalent of five years younger biologically. Telomeres sit on the end of chromosomes and perform a role similar to the plastic tips on the end of shoelaces.
Telomere shortening is a natural part of the ageing process. It is thought they could be better preserved by the powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds found in coffee. A study tracked 436 Norwegian people with a diagnosed mental illness for 11 years and they were asked how much coffee they drank.
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The research team said there are plausible biological explanations for their findings but warned drinking more than four cups of coffee a day may have the opposite effect.
Author Dr Monica Aas, of King’s College London, said: “Telomeres are highly sensitive to both oxidative stress and inflammation, further highlighting how coffee intake could help preserve cellular ageing in a population whose pathophysiology may be predisposing them to an accelerated rate of ageing.”
Coffee, when drunk in moderation, has been associated with various health benefits, prompting the researchers to explore whether it might influence the rate at which telomeres shorten
The study, published in the British Medical Journal, analysed data from the Norwegian Thematically Organised Psychosis (TOP) study. Participants suffered with mental health conditions including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder with psychosis.
Participants were asked between 2007 and 2018 how much coffee they drank every day and grouped into four categories; zero, 1–2 cups, 3–4 cups and five or more cups.
Compared with those drinking no coffee, drinking up to 3–4 cups a day was associated with longer telomeres but not in those participants drinking five or more.
Those participants getting a daily 4-cup caffeine hit had telomere lengths comparable to a biological age five years younger than that of non-coffee drinkers after adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, tobacco use, type of mental ill health and drug treatment.
UK guidelines advise to drink no more than four cups of coffee a day. Dr Aas warned: “Consuming more than the daily recommended amount of coffee may also cause cellular damage and [telomere] shortening through the formation of reactive oxygen species.”
Researchers admitted the study is ‘observational’ so cannot prove it was the coffee that had the beneficial impact on telomeres. It comes after a previous observational study suggested drinking coffee in the morning could bring more health benefits than drinking cups throughout the day.
Research tracking 40,000 people in the US over a decade tried to assess whether the time of day people drink coffee has any impact on their health. After taking into account various other health and lifestyle factors researchers found that morning coffee drinkers were 16% less likely to have died compared with those who drank no coffee, and they were 31% less likely to have died from heart disease.
