Heavy Coffee Drinkers Have Higher Death Risk, Study Warns

Bad news for heavy Java drinkers - too much coffee is associated with a higher death risk in men and women younger than 55, a new study said Thursday.

In the study published online in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, men younger than 55 who drank more than 28 cups of coffee a week (four cups a day) were 56% more likely to have died from any cause. Women in that age range had a twofold greater risk of dying than other women.

The study looked at 43,727 men and women ages 20-87 from 1971 to 2002. 

"From our study, it seems safe to drink one to three cups of coffee a day," said study co-author Xuemei Sui.

"Drinking more than four cups of coffee a day may endanger health," says Sui, assistant professor of exercise science with the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina in Columbia.

Sui defines a cup of coffee as 6 to 8 ounces. Most Americans drink three of those a day, the study notes.

"People who drink more coffee may be prone to higher mortality; however, this may not be cause-and-effect, as there may be something else about the person who drinks 10 cups per day such as an addicting personality or is easily stressed out," co-author Carl J. Lavie, MD, medical director of cardiac rehabilitation and prevention at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans, told MedPage Today.

Coffee drinkers are prevalent with 83 percent of American adults consuming coffee every day, according to the latest data National Coffee Drinking Study from the National Coffee Association.

Sui goes on to note that since researchers still disagree on the benefits and side effects of coffee, she encourages people to watch their coffee intake and "avoid excessive coffee drinking."