Alcohol is bad for you. Coffee is bad for you. Apparently NOT!
If you want to live a long life, you have to ditch alcohol and coffee. We heard that many times, and we ignored it or not. New research shows that if you want to live into your 90s you should not give up on coffee and alcohol.
Well, the research shows that people who have two alcohol servings per day and two cups of coffee get to live more. In all fairness, we don’t know if alcohol and coffee are the cause, or the fact that we better genes help us drink more of the stuff. Anyway, the research is interesting…
A new study has found that consuming moderate amounts of both caffeine and alcohol may help you live into your 90s.
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.
he 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.
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.
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.
another little warning: while drinking caffeine and alcohol in moderate amounts may be 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.