Lengthen Your Lifespan With Coffee

There’s a vicious battle being waged every day inside your body. It’s a conflict between roaming free radicals and antioxidants. Left unchecked, high numbers of these free radicals can lead to oxidative stress. This is the primary driver for many diseases and debilitating conditions. Oxidative stress reduces longevity. The choices we make about what we eat affects the number of antioxidants enlisted into this battle that has an outsized role in our life expectancy. 

Everything from broccoli to orange juice to whole wheat bread contains antioxidants. Yet for most people a surprising source is responsible for delivering the majority of antioxidants. It’s coffee. Study after study confirms that it can extend an average lifespan. Read on to learn how drinking coffee can make a real difference for anyone hoping to enjoy a long and healthy life. 

The Coffee Connection

If coffee were discovered today, it would be championed as a miracle drug. Instead, its history is less fact than mystery. The best-known story about its origins is that a sharp-eyed shepherd noticed his charges getting energized after consuming coffee beans. He brought the beans to a local monk, who brewed the first cup of coffee to stay awake during evening prayers. From its humble beginnings in Ethiopia, coffee spread across the Near East, Europe, and eventually the New World. 

From basic black to online-driven caffeine concoctions featuring foams and whips, today coffee is a worldwide phenomenon. Globally some two billion cups are consumed every day – with 60% of American adults having at least one cup daily. Some worry about caffeine addiction. Like other popular “vices” such as martinis or cigarettes, coffee was once derided as a potential health hazard. 

In the 1980s, one study singled out coffee as a cancer risk. The next decade, the World Health Organization (WHO) joined the bandwagon by calling caffeine a carcinogen. However, the study’s results couldn’t be reproduced. In 2016, WHO dropped coffee from its list of potential cancer-causers. Unlike alcohol or tobacco, study after study consistently confirms coffee’s benefits and unique ability to extend life expectancy. In fact, even the decaffeinated version is beneficial. One of the biggest reasons for coffee’s near miracle drug status is the way it fights against oxidation.

The Antioxidant Story

It’s not just metal that gets oxidized (and rusty). Our bodies are subject to the process as well. Oxidation happens as the result of a chemical reaction – in our bodies this happens after we eat. Food is converted into energy with free radicals as a result of this conversion. 

Unfortunately, free radicals are unstable. This means they lack an electron. So like a lost child seeking her mother, these free radicals bounce around our bodies searching for an electron to call their own. They take them from healthy molecules like fats and proteins. This affects their ability to function – which is why large numbers of free radicals contribute to disease and reduced longevity. 

Free radicals can be helpful – they support immune system responses for one thing. The problem is when there are too many. Everything from stress to sun exposure to smoking stimulates the body’s production of free radicals. Too many free radicals stealing electrons from healthy molecules produces something called oxidative stress. 

Oxidative stress is longevity’s mortal enemy. When this creates plaque that builds up in our arteries, it can result in cardiovascular disease. You’re more likely to get cancer if there are abundant numbers of free radicals in your body. These free radicals can also create scar tissue in the kidneys, and inflammation that leads to rheumatoid arthritis. Oxidative stress can cause asthma and has been linked to neurological conditions like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. 

So if oxidative stress is the problem, what is the solution? The answer is antioxidants.

These molecules can be found in the food we eat. Instead of taking an electron, they donate one. When free radicals get an electron from antioxidants, they are stabilized. Having sufficient antioxidants in your body is the only way to satisfy these hungry free radicals. Unsatisfied free radicals will take from any cell they can find – leading to oxidative stress. 

So where does one find antioxidants? You can start with the produce aisle of your local supermarket. That’s because Vitamin C is an antioxidant and can be found in strawberries, kiwi, oranges, and grapefruit along with broccoli. Almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts and spinach are also antioxidants because they are loaded with Vitamin E. Selenium is an antioxidant. It can be found in eggs, whole wheat bread, brown rice, tuna, and salmon. Beta carotene, which is found in carrots, cantaloupes, and apricots, is another rich antioxidant source. With the average American life expectancy declining, these heart-healthy foods are recommended to anyone hoping to extend their longevity. 

While many foods contain antioxidants, most people’s primary source of this free-radical stabilizer isn’t a food at all. It’s a beverage. That’s because coffee is loaded with antioxidants. And its life-lengthening properties have been confirmed in study after study. 

Over a decade ago, researchers spent 12 years tracking nearly half-a-million people between the ages of 50 and 71. Coffee-drinkers were far more likely to live to the end of the study than non-coffee drinkers. More recently, studies have shown that coffee drinkers are less likely to die from Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes and liver diseases. They are less likely to be depressed. And according to a recent study, drinking just two cups of coffee a day reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease while lengthening the average lifespan. The coffee didn’t even have to have caffeine. 

“In this large, observational study, ground, instant, and decaffeinated coffee were associated with equivalent reductions in the incidence of cardiovascular disease and death from cardiovascular disease or any cause,” study author Professor Peter Kistler of the Baker Heart and Diabetes Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia explained. “The results suggest that mild to moderate intake of ground, instant and decaffeinated coffee should be considered part of a healthy lifestyle.”

Even heavy coffee drinkers (more than eight cups daily) live longer than non-coffee drinkers. There are caveats. For one thing, too much caffeine can cause heart palpitations because it releases noradrenaline and norepinephrine. These hormones may also increase blood pressure or heart rate. And for some people, coffee consumption may raise their cholesterol levels. 

That’s why no matter how much coffee you consume, it’s important to make sure your body is healthy. Fortunately, finding out about your heart health and so much more is as simple as an at-home test from Kyla Clinics. You’ll receive insights into as many as 14 different biomarkers that help identify your risk of stroke, heart disease, and cognitive decline. These tests include a check of your hormone levels, inflammation markers, reproductive health and a wide range of other health concerns. While some companies charge hundreds of dollars for similar tests, Kyla’s costs only $99. These tests may even be covered by your insurance.  

Begin by taking a two-minute quiz. This will help you decide which test is right for you. Order your test and you’ll receive it in just a few days, along with easy-to-follow sample instructions. Submit your sample to Kyla labs postage free. After receiving your results, you’ll be able to talk to a Kyla doctor about your health while gaining invaluable insights through AI analytics and advanced testing.

Using the Kyla app you can track the ways your lifestyle affects your body through vital health indicators including primary care and hormone levels. Monitor your data conveniently while visualizing your progress through graphs for better insights. 

Kyla reduces the impact of time on health with medications, supplements, and personalized nutrition. This can help you change your relationship to aging while lengthening your longevity. Thanks to the twin tools of technology and medicine, it may soon be possible to add more than one year of life to an average lifespan for each year someone is alive. 

Longevity escape velocity is just a theory today. It could be standard practice tomorrow. So while you enjoy a cup of coffee, take a look at Kyla’s site and discover how by putting science first, they deliver clinically proven primary care that will not only increase your lifespan but deliver years or even decades of healthy, happy life. 

Sources:

1. Bankston,John. “Health Benefits Of Drinking Coffee,” Doctorpedia. February 5, 2023. https://www.doctorpedia.com/channels/health-benefits-of-drinking-coffee/
2. “What is oxidative stress?” Cleveland Clinic. February 29, 2024. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/oxidative-stress
3. Helmenstine, Anne Marie.  Ph.D.”Two key types“Oxidation Definition and Example in Chemistry: What Oxidation Means (New and Old Definitions),” ThoughtCo. June 7, 2024. https://www.thoughtco.com/definition-of-oxidation-in-chemistry-605456
4. Gunnars, Kris BSc. “Coffee and Longevity: Do Coffee Drinkers Live Longer?” Healthline. January 10, 2019. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-coffee-makes-you-live-longer
5. “Coffee drinking is associated with increased longevity,” European Society of Cardiology. September 27, 2022. https://www.escardio.org/The-ESC/Press-Office/Press-releases/Coffee-drinking-is-associated-with-increased-longevity
6. “Caffeinated or not, coffee linked with longer life,” Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.2018. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/coffee-longer-life/
7. Salamon, Maureen. “Drinking coffee might lengthen life,” Harvard Health. September 1, 2022. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/drinking-coffee-might-lengthen-life
8. Connolly, Liam. “Q&A: What effect does caffeine have on your heart?” UC Davis Health. December 14, 2023. https://health.ucdavis.edu/news/headlines/qa-what-effect-does-caffeine-have-on-your-heart/2023/12