05-05-2025
How daily coffee drinking can protect you against frailty in old age
According to a new study published in the European Journal of Nutrition, higher habitual coffee consumption could be associated with lower odds of frailty. Researchers analysed 1,161 adults aged 55+ from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam over seven years to explore the link between frailty (weight loss, weakness, exhaustion, slow gait, low activity) and coffee consumption.
Researchers divided coffee consumption into five categories: no coffee, between zero and two cups a day, between two and four cups a day, between four and six cups a day, and more than six cups a day. The zero to two cups a day group served as the reference group, as researchers said those who drank no coffee at all may have had other distinguishing characteristics making them unsuitable for comparison (eg, they abstained from coffee for specific health reasons).
Following analysis, the researchers found that people who drank between four and six cups of coffee (they counted a standard cup as 125ml) had 0.36 times lower odds of frailty compared with the reference group and those who drank more than six cups had 0.37 times lower odds. Additionally, for those drinking between two and four cups a day, the odds of pre-frailty – the transitional stage preceding frailty – were 0.73 times lower than the reference group.
It's important, however, to understand that this is an observational study – no direct cause has been proven. While it adds to a growing body of evidence, the researchers themselves stress how further studies are needed to confirm these results.
Although, as is noted in the study, coffee has previously been linked to various health benefits, including a reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes, certain types of cancer, cardiovascular disease and reduced mortality.
Various bioactive compounds like caffeine and polyphenols – which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties – are present in coffee. The researchers say these may help prevent sarcopenia (muscle loss) and prevention of muscle damage, which could help explain the possible link between coffee and reduced risk of frailty. Indeed, one older scientific study on mice showed that coffee consumption reduced muscle weight and grip strength decline, reducing the risk of sarcopenia.
While this study is encouraging for the coffee lovers out there, it's important not to get too carried away. The majority of official guidelines state that most adults can safely consume up to 400mg of caffeine daily (equivalent to about four cups of coffee) and those in the six+ group may well be exceeding that.
Along with how you drink your coffee – multiple daily caramel iced Frappes probably isn't what the researchers had in mind – and what the rest of your diet looks like, there are other individual lifestyle factors to consider. And, to stress again, this study doesn't confirm a direct link, but rather, a possible one.
However, it adds to a growing body of evidence on the possible health benefits of coffee, and while your bank might not be thanking you for that coffee you bought on the way to work, your future muscles might.
One more thing to consider – the study was funded by the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee. While we aren't saying this affects the results, it's still important to have all the details to make your own informed decisions.
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