A new study reports The Guardian should satisfy tea and coffee consumers. Whether you need an espresso to wake you up in the morning or you simply like to drink tea with a pie on a Sunday afternoon, caffeine would have long-term beneficial effects on the body. This chemical compound that stimulates our central nervous system is present in coffee and tea, but also in cocoa beans.
Research conducted by the National University of Singapore (NUS) followed 12,000 people. The model adopted was simple: respondents were questioned in middle age (average age was 53 years) about their caffeine consumption. 20 years later, researchers tried to estimate which had the most energy. In this context, they specifically studied their grip and tested the participants in a timed balance exercise: a person gets up from a chair and walks to a point several meters away.
The observation is clear: “Coffee and tea lovers are significantly less likely to be frail at age 70,” the paper reports. Among coffee drinkers, 52.9% drank one cup a day, 42.2% two to three cups and 4.9% four or more cups. 4.9% of them saw their risk of physical frailty decrease significantly in old age, compared to those who did not drink coffee every day. The leader of the study, however, moderated these results, indicating that additional research is needed to determine whether these effects really come from caffeine or other chemical compounds.
As the newspaper reminds, numerous studies have been conducted on caffeine, some pointing to its positive effects on the heart, while others believe that this molecule causes anxiety or addiction. Without an established consensus, it is ideal to definitely opt for a moderate consumption of coffee and tea.
