Data analysis has given people who might want to give up coffee and alcohol intake another reason to just hang on. Because according to the 90+ study research, people who drank a moderate amount of alcohol or coffee lived longer than those who abstained.
This may sound a bit debatable but the ongoing research based on people who live up to 90 years and above reveals that a common habit of taking moderate coffee or wine played a pivotal role in their longevity.
The 90+ Study, which is one of the largest studies in the world has enrolled some of the oldest people living in America. A report filed by today.com indicated that, Dr. Claudia Kawas is the co-principal investigator and about 1,800 nonagenarians are now enrolled in the research, contributing their blood and DNA, undergoing exams every six months, having their bodies imaged and sharing details of their lifestyle.
What role do they play, Coffee and Alcohol?
Dr. Kawas speaking about the roles of alcohol and coffee reiterated that people who drank moderate amounts of alcohol or coffee lived longer than those who abstained, thus, about two glasses of beer or wine with a daily meal could reduce the chances of premature death.
She also noted that the key word in the study’s revelation is “modest” because chances are that people who take excessive alcohol at younger ages don’t make it to their 90s.
“I have no explanation for it, but I do firmly believe that modest drinking is associated with longevity,” she says.
On the same note, other schools of thought maintain a diverse view on the role of alcohol and its relation with the longevity of life. According to the director of the New England Centenarian Study, Dr. Thomas Perls, Seventh-day Adventists have a life expectancy of 86 and 89 for men and women respectively.
Also, a meta-analysis in 2015 and 2016 one drink a day increases a woman’s cancer risk and that of 87 studies revealed that moderate drinkers didn’t have a reduced risk of death compared to people who abstained all their lives or drank just occasionally.
And for coffee, a study published last year revealed that drinking either caffeinated or decaf – was associated with a reduced risk of death.
The importance of exercising
Dr. Kawas also said that a 15-minute exercise daily could be associated with the longevity of life.
“Mercifully, for couch potatoes like me, three hours was no better than 45 minutes,” she noted.
In her research, the exercise didn’t have to be super intense, heart-pumping workouts that required a gym. It just had to amount to 45 minutes per day total and move your body in some way. It could even be divided into several sessions: three 15-minute walks, for example.
But these regular exercises and moderate alcohol and coffee intake according to Dr. Kawas cannot protect the brain from dementia.
“Most of those things do not appear to be clearly related to cognitive abilities in [your] 90s, which is sort of disappointing,” she noted, adding it’s a problem as life expectancy continues to grow. “The sad part about that is we’ve added more years than we’ve added quality.”
More than 40 percent of people at the age of 90 and above have dementia and about 80 percent of them are disabled, the study further revealed. Both conditions are found to be more common in men than in women.
They have also noted that lifestyle and genes play a big role because people who live long without dementia are more likely to have had parents who lived long without dementia.