Coffee can be good for you as both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee can lower mortality risk: Harvard study

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Harvard University scientists have found even more reason to drink coffee regularly. Consumption of both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee can lower the risk of death and developing certain diseases.

People who drink moderate amounts of coffee which are around five cups a day according to the researchers are less likely to die early or develop cardiovascular disease or suicide.

"The main message is that regular consumption, meaning three to five cups of coffee a day, is associated with lower risk in total mortality and mortality from several causes like diabetes, cardiovascular disease and suicide," Frank Hu, lead author and professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the university, told Today.

The research that was published online in the journal Circulation adds that both caffeine and decaffeinated coffee helps.

"In previous studies on that issue, most of the coffee was caffeinated coffee. In our study, both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee showed a lower mortality risk but there is no final conclusion yet," Hu said. "In our study, both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee showed a lower mortality risk."

In order to determine the link between death rates and coffee consumption, the researchers surveyed more than 200,000 women and 50,000 men in the United States. They asked the participants how much coffee they drank and other foods and drinks and observed disease and death rates for 20 years.

They found that those who drank more than three cups of coffee a day had a 15-percent decreased death rate while those who drank three cups had 8 percent lowered risk of dying and those who drank less than a cup had a 6-percent lowered chances of death than noncoffee drinkers. However, drinking coffee cannot reverse the damage in people who smoke.

"The lower risk of mortality is consistent with our hypothesis that coffee consumption could be good for you (because) we have published papers showing that coffee consumption is associated with lower risk of type 2 diabetes and (heart) disease," said Ming Ding, doctoral student at the Harvard School pf Public Health and lead author of the study, via CNN.

However, Hu and colleagues said that coffee is not the cure-all answer for people who want to be protected from chronic diseases. According to the report by NBC News, factors such as diet and lifestyle have a bigger impact on a person's health outcome.

An expert told CBS News that the positive effects are not applicable to sugar, cream and other sweeteners that are added to coffee.

"They should consider ramping down slowly, either decreasing the amount of sugar they add or shifting to a non-nutrient sweetening, and gradually shifting from cream to lower fat milk, or using less," they told the outlet.