Hang on a sec. I know you’re rolling your eyes at another study that’s trying to tell you that something you love to do or eat is bad for you.
This isn’t that kind of study. This is the good kind.
A lot of articles like to report of these things as though the results are an all or nothing thing.
They tend to equate correlation with causation, which isn’t really how these studies work.
For something to be the 100% absolute cause of a result, you’d have to control for everything else.
And that’s not really possible in real life. People and lives and environments are too varied, so unlike the careful testing and control studies done for direct medical treatments, these lifestyle analyses are all about correlation.
That said: keep on enjoying that coffee and alcohol, people!
When it comes to beverages, these two categories get a lot of love from the scientific community.
Perhaps it’s because the scientists just really like caffeine and alcohol…
Because of that, we see a lot of studies for and against the consumption of them.
Is red wine the key to why the French are so thin and healthy? Is coffee too addictive and destroying humanity’s ability to properly regulate sleep?
I bet you can find studies on both sides of that debate.
But this study makes a nice Goldilocks argument in favor of them both.
Published by the UC Irvine Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders, the project is called The 90+ Study . Since 2003, 1,600 participants over 90 have checked in with doctors every six months.
They’re asked questions about all aspects of their lives as well as given mental and physical tests.
From this data, researchers have made a ton of discoveries, including that you shouldn’t worry about caffeine or alcohol consumption so much — as long as you enjoy it in moderation.
For alcohol, participants who drank two glasses of beer or wine per day were 18% more likely to reach their 90s.
For coffee, they found a 10% increase in longevity.
As an added bonus, being slightly overweight, but not obese, has a 3% boost.
So should you start drinking a couple glasses of wine and coffee every day?
No, since we’re talking about correlation. There are no guarantees. However, these findings mean that you shouldn’t be afraid to enjoy them regularly, in moderation. Which is always good news.
h/t: The Independent
