Coffee Could Make You Live Longer

Cold brew ftw.

Coffee Could Make You Live Longer

Image: @brunosantos

Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world, with the human population getting through around 10 million tonnes of the stuff each year. But while many of us praise it for the benefits caffeine provides, your morning order could actually be affecting your life more than you think.

US-based nutritionist Max Lugavere has recently taken to Instagram to tell us that not all coffee-based drinks are equal when it comes to our health. Cold coffee drinks such as frappuccinos are packed the rafters with sugar and fat.

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Take a Starbucks Ultra Caramel Frappuccino for example. A 12oz version of the uber-sweet drink contains 350 calories, 44 grams of sugar and 17 grams of fat. When the American Heart Association says the recommended daily intake of sugar for average male should be 37.5 grams of sugar, you can instantly see some problems will arise with excessive consumption of the sweet drinks.

The solution?

Max says all you need to do is switch your order to a regular iced long black. Not only does it contain zero calories, but you also get more coffee and you’ll reap plenty of health benefits. He references a 2017 study by Park et al. which found that people – the study used a diverse range of ethnic backgrounds and ages – who consume one cup of coffee a day (decaf included) were 12 percent less likely to die from heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and respiratory & kidney disease over a 16 year period, compared to those who didn’t drink coffee at all.

Moreover, another study conducted on a large group of multiethnic participants found regular coffee consumption could reduce the risk of contracting liver cirrhosis, while a third found an increase in coffee consumption could improve someone’s mental wellbeing, and therefore reducing the risk of suicide.

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And for those who like a little livener during the day, the risk of death was 18 per cent less for people who drank 2-3 cups.

The reusable takeaway cup? Next time you’re in line at your go-to coffee shop, think twice about the order you make. Not only will your body thank you, but ordering a “long black” sounds a lot less wanky than “iced mocha frappuccino, skinny, extra cream.”

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