Black coffee can lower the risk of death, but there's a catch

Coffee lovers, we have good news for you. Your daily indulgence might actually be doing more than just waking you up - it might be saving you, quite literally. Drinking coffee can lower the risk of all-cause mortality; however, a recent study suggests that making it a certain way could kill its benefits.

A new study by researchers from the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University found that drinking black coffee or coffee reduced the risk of death from all causes. However, those benefits may be lost when the beverage is consumed with certain additives. The study is published in The Journal of Nutrition.

Coffee, but no additives

Coffee may bring some benefits; however, you may want to hold the cream and sugar. The researchers found that the association between coffee consumption and mortality risk changes with the amount of sweeteners and saturated fat added to the beverage. They found that drinking 1-2 cups of caffeinated coffee per day was linked to a lower risk of death from all causes, including cardiovascular disease.

Black coffee with low levels of added sugar and saturated fat is linked to a 14% lower risk of all-cause mortality compared to no coffee consumption. The researchers noticed that these benefits were, however, slashed when the coffee was added with high amounts of added sugar and saturated fat.

“Coffee is among the most-consumed beverages in the world, and with nearly half of American adults reporting drinking at least one cup per day, it’s important for us to know what it might mean for health. The health benefits of coffee might be attributable to its bioactive compounds, but our results suggest that the addition of sugar and saturated fat may reduce the mortality benefits,” Fang Fang Zhang, senior author and the Neely Family Professor at the Friedman School, said, in a statement.

The study

The researchers analyzed data from nine consecutive cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) conducted between 1999 and 2018. The study included a nationally representative sample of 46,000 adults aged 20 years and older who completed valid first-day 24-hour dietary recalls. This data was then linked to the National Death Index Mortality Data.


The researchers categorized the coffee consumption by type (caffeinated or decaffeinated), sugar, and saturated fat content. They also included mortality outcomes such as all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. The amount of low added sugar (from granulated sugar, honey, and syrup) was defined as under 5% of the Daily Value, which is 2.5 grams per 8-ounce cup or approximately half a teaspoon of sugar. The low saturated fat (from milk, cream, and half-and-half) was defined as 5% of the Daily Value, or 1 gram per 8-ounce cup or the equivalent of 5 tablespoons of 2% milk, 1 tablespoon of light cream, or 1 tablespoon of half-and-half.

The findings

The findings were striking. The researchers found that drinking at least one cup per day was linked with a 16% lower risk of all-cause mortality. When the coffee consumption was increased to 2-3 cups per day, the link rose to 17%. No benefits were found beyond three cups.

“Few studies have examined how coffee additives could impact the link between coffee consumption and mortality risk, and our study is among the first to quantify how much sweetener and saturated fat are being added. Our results align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans which recommend limiting added sugar and saturated fat” first author Bingjie Zhou, a Ph.D. graduate from the nutrition epidemiology and data science program at the Friedman School added.