One Of The Best Drinks For Healthy Aging Isn't Water Or Milk

Water is the essence of life, so make sure you stay hydrated by drinking plenty — but don't overdo it. It's possible to overhydrate, leading to hyponatremia, or water intoxication. Milk may actually be a better hydration drink than water, since it's chock-full of minerals and electrolytes. However, a large body of research points to an unexpected candidate for the list of healthiest drinks: coffee.

Coffee consumption has long been shown to have numerous health benefits. According to studies compiled by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, drinking one or two cups of java per day can reduce the risks of colon cancer, liver damage, heart failure, stroke, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's disease. All combined, such risk-reduction can certainly help you live longer. But the link between coffee and longevity goes even deeper than just avoiding specific diseases, since it battles aging at its source.

Coffee contains an abundance of antioxidants and other wholesome substances that lower inflammation. Chronic inflammation over the course of a lifetime results in "inflammaging." Essentially, inflammaging is when chronic inflammation puts the immune system into continuous repair mode, which ages the body at a cellular level. A 2018 study published in JAMA Internal Medicine confirms it: after monitoring 502,641 people over a 10-year period, the researchers discovered that coffee-drinkers had a 10% to 15% reduced mortality rate. The paper's lead author Erikka Loftfield has suggested the connection between coffee and longevity is likely due to the bitter drink's antioxidant content, which reduces inflammation and corresponding cell damage.

According to many large-scale longevity studies, it appears the heavier the coffee consumption, the greater the benefits. In the 2018 study, the highest consumers reported drinking eight or more cups per day, but they still enjoyed overall greater longevity compared to the abstainers. It wasn't the first time the effect was observed. A 2018 study from Spain discovered the same reduction in mortality after monitoring 20,000 participants over a 10-year period. Those who reported consuming four or more cups per day enjoyed a 64% lower risk of dying compared to the abstainers. Shockingly, the data suggest that every two additional cups of daily coffee adds an extra 22% reduction in mortality rate.

Of course, everything has its limits. Too much caffeine can result in some uncomfortable side effects, such as jitteriness, a faster heart rate, higher blood pressure, increased anxiety, and difficulties falling asleep, all symptoms that may actually reduce life expectancy. Add to that the egregious amounts of milk fats and sugar that many people mix into their morning brews, and high coffee consumption can certainly start to lean on the unhealthy side.

As a rough rule of thumb, the FDA recommends keeping your caffeine intake to under 400 milligrams per day — that's about 3 to 5 standard cups of coffee. However, the ideal amount of coffee depends on the individual, as some people are less sensitive to caffeine than others. Most people know how much it takes them personally to hit that overcaffeinated buzz. Remember, it's not the caffeine in the coffee that makes it a healthy drink, it's the antioxidants. So for caffeine-sensitive folks that want to reap the health benefits of coffee, stick to decaf.