image creditDrinking a daily cup of coffee - or even several cups - isn't likely to harm your health, and it may even lower your risk of dying from chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests. The relationship between coffee drinking and health has been a hot topic in recent years, but research has produced mixed results.
Some studies have linked coffee consumption to better health and a lower risk of premature death, while others suggest that coffee might contribute to heart disease through negative effects on blood pressure, cholesterol, and heart rate. The new study is by far the largest of its kind to date. As part of a joint project with the AARP, researchers from the National Institutes of Health followed more than 400,000 healthy men and women between the ages of 50 and 71 for up to 13 years, during which 13% of the participants died.
