WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A new study from Harvard University followed nearly 50,000 women for 30 years as part of the Nurses' Health Study. The research found that women who drank coffee regularly were more likely to stay mentally sharp and physically strong as they got older.
During the study period, the researchers looked at how much caffeine the women consumed from different drinks, like regular and decaf coffee, tea, and cola. They used food surveys from 1984 and 1986 to estimate how much caffeine each woman was drinking, then tracked their health through 2016.
They measured caffeine in 80 milligram steps, which is about the amount in one small cup of coffee, and looked at how many cups or glasses of each drink women had per day.
The study also took into account other factors like age, exercise, smoking, and alcohol use. In the end, more than 3,700 women were considered to have aged in a healthy way.
Most caffeine came from coffee, with the average woman drinking about 315 mg a day. The study found that women who drank more coffee were more likely to age well, staying healthy both mentally and physically. Notably, tea, decaf coffee, and cola didn't show the same benefits. In fact, drinking cola was linked to a lower chance of healthy aging.
'While past studies have linked coffee to individual health outcomes, our study is the first to assess coffee's impact across multiple domains of aging over three decades,' said Dr. Sara Mahdavi, a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, and an adjunct professor at University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Nutritional Sciences.
'The findings suggest that caffeinated coffee-not tea or decaf-may uniquely support aging trajectories that preserve both mental and physical function.'
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