The daily ritual of imbibing a hot cup of freshly brewed and fragrant coffee isn't just good for the soul – it may be one of the ways to smooth the road to healthy aging for women.
In a study of 47,513 women in the US with data spanning 30 years, scientists have found that long-term moderate coffee consumption in mid-life is positively correlated with the markers of healthy aging.
"While past studies have linked coffee to individual health outcomes, our study is the first to assess coffee's impact across multiple domains of aging over three decades," says Sara Mahdavi, nutrition scientist at Harvard University and the University of Toronto.
"The findings suggest that caffeinated coffee – not tea or decaf – may uniquely support aging trajectories that preserve both mental and physical function."
To assess the long-term impact of a daily cuppa (or two) on aging, Mahdavi and her colleagues made a careful study of data collected as part of the Nurses' Health Study, a series of epidemiological studies that examine the long-term impacts of various factors on the health of nurses in the US.
They examined health and dietary intake data collected since 1984, all the way up to 2016. Healthy aging was defined as living to 70 years or older, maintaining good physical function, staying free from 11 major chronic diseases, and with no cognitive, mental health, or memory impairment.
The researchers also adjusted for other factors that might influence health, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, level of physical activity, and body-mass index.
By 2016, the researchers identified 3,706 women who qualified as healthy agers. For this group, around 80 percent of their average daily caffeine intake came in the form of three small cups' worth of coffee.
By contrast, tea and decaffeinated coffee were not associated with any of the markers of healthy aging; and cola intake was associated with a negative impact for the markers of healthy aging. In other words, coffee had a positive effect; tea and decaf were neutral; and cola had a negative effect.
For the healthy agers, each additional cup of coffee, up to five small cups a day, boosted the odds of healthy aging by between 2 and 5 percent. For the cola drinkers, each cup per day reduced the odds of healthy aging by 20 to 26 percent.
Of course, coffee isn't a magic bullet for your health; you should still look after yourself in other ways, Mahdavi says.
"These results, while preliminary, suggest that small, consistent habits can shape long-term health. Moderate coffee intake may offer some protective benefits when combined with other healthy behaviors such as regular exercise, a healthy diet, and avoiding smoking," she explains.
"While this study adds to prior evidence suggesting coffee intake may be linked with healthy aging, the benefits from coffee are relatively modest compared to the impact of overall healthy lifestyle habits and warrant further investigation."
The research has been presented at the NUTRITION 2025 conference in Orlando, Florida.