Hell Yes: Drinking Coffee And Alcohol Every Day May Help You Live Longer
Slip some whisky in your morning cuppa, moderate amounts of coffee and alcohol may be good things
Cheers! And hell yes – a new study has found that consuming moderate amounts of both caffeine and alcohol may help you live into your 90s.
After you’ve finished jumping up in down in celebration, and then running to the store to buy wine and coffee, here’s some more information:
According to researchers at the UC Irvine Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders, drinking two servings of alcohol daily decreased chances of premature death by 18 percent, while drinking two cups of coffee each day decreased premature death by 10 percent.
Yes! You read that right.
The study, called the 90+ Study, has looked at information from over 1,600 nonagenarians since 2013 in order to determine what may contribute to longevity and long-term health. All of the participants (called “the oldest old”) see a doctor twice a year, answer questions about their lifestyle and health, and undergo a number of physical and neurological tests. And this latest finding is freaking amazing.
“I have no explanation for it, but I do firmly believe that modest drinking improves longevity,” Dr. Claudia Kawas, one of the study’s lead researcher, said at a recent scientific conference.
And that’s fine with us – we don’t really care why it’s true.
If you can even believe it, this wasn’t even the only good news to come out of the 90+ study so far. Researchers also found that people who were moderately overweight in their 70s were much more likely to live into their 90s than those who weighed less.
The study has also found that while a little extra padding can help you enjoy a long life, regular exercise is also key to sticking around on earth. So is having a regular hobby to keep you mentally sharp and healthy. Specifically exercising for 15 to 45 minutes each day reduced the risk of early death by 11 percent, while those who spent 2 hours on a hobby daily had 21 percent reduced risk of early death.
In other words: if wake up and drink coffee, spend some time doing something you love, make sure to go on a walk, eat a cookie, and have some wine with dinner, you can basically live forever.
One thing to note: all of these findings involve the word moderate. Heavy drinkers didn’t fare well, and neither did drinking tons of coffee. And while a few extra pounds makes your heartier in your 70s, being obese wasn’t connected with a longer life.
Of course, not all of the findings are great. One of the tidbits discovered by researchers is that living into your 90s might not be the greatest thing ever, because over 40 percent of those who get past 89 suffer from some form of dementia, while almost 80 percent are living with a disability (and the numbers are even higher for women).
And another little warning: while drinking caffeine and alcohol in moderate amounts may be a-okay, drinking caffeine and alcohol together might not be the best thing in the world. Why? Coffee can mask the depressant aspects of alcohol, making people more alert as they drink and perhaps allowing them to drink more than they would. Also, it’s a myth that coffee helps sober you up if you’ve been drinking. So, maybe space out your morning and evening mind-altering beverages.
Finally – the 90+ study is looking for more participants. If you know someone who might be interested, they can call 949.768.3635.
