New research from scientists working at Soochow University in Suzhou, China suggests drinking coffee can help negate some of the bad effects of living a very sedentary lifestyle, and in theory help you live longer.
In the study, of those who sat for eight (or more) hours a day, the ones who drank the most coffee appeared to have reduced mortality risk when compared to those who drank no coffee at all.
Chinese scientists compare coffee drinking habits among people with sedentary lifestyles
Sedentary means tending to spend a lot of time sitting down.
“In recent years,” said Bingyan Li, one of the study’s authors, “increased TV viewing and computer use, as well as less physically demanding jobs, have led people to become more sedentary in their daily lives.”
Even adults who engage in regular physical activity often spend a lot of time seated. This can harm metabolic health, and sedentary behavior is emerging as a determinant in several harmful health outcomes, writes Medical News Today.
Meanwhile, coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world. So it’s worth understanding the effects of drinking it on the human body.
In Li’s words, “even if coffee has a small health-boosting effect, it may have a significant impact on public health.”
Researchers find sedentary coffee drinkers are at less risk of dying from ‘all causes’
Li and her colleagues analyzed data from more than 10,000 participants in a decade-spanning national health survey of US adults about their daily sitting time and coffee consumption.
They found that sitting for more than eight hours per day was associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular and all-cause deaths. This is compared to participants who sat for less than 4 hours a day. The terms “all-cause death” and “all-cause mortality” mean death from any cause.
However, factoring in coffee consumption produced some startling results. Those who drank the most coffee had the lowest risk of all-cause and cardiovascular disease-related mortality.
The researchers also found that people who sat for 6 hours a day who didn’t drink coffee were 1.6 times more likely to die from all causes. So if you’re thinking about quitting coffee for health reasons, consider this first!
Understanding why drinking coffee is good for people who spend a lot of time sitting
“Sedentary behavior is a crucial and independent predictor of inflammation,” Li explains. This is because it “induces proinflammatory markers while reducing anti-inflammatory markers.”
In other words, sitting around for a long time can cause inflammation, in the long term.
Sedentary behavior also changes the metabolism of certain muscles. For each hour more spent sitting or lying down while awake, metabolic risks increase by 39%, according to earlier research.
But drinking coffee reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome, which aggravates inflammation, Li adds. Just don’t drink coffee too late in the day if it stops you from sleeping soundly.
However, it’s important not to jump to any wild conclusions. This is an “association study,” Li cautions. It may not be the coffee itself that’s causing the changes in risk of death; it could be something the researchers haven’t spotted, which coffee drinkers also tend to do, or eat, or drink.
