Drinking Over 4 Cups of Coffee per Day Linked with Early Death

Drinking more than four cups of coffee per day could increase risk of dying early, a new study reported.

There are many studies conducted on coffee consumption. While one study published in the New England Journal of Medicine had found that coffee consumption can't be linked to risk of heart attacks or stroke, another had reported that coffee is positively related to increased risk of heart attack.

Coffee consumption was also found to be associated with significantly lower incidence of Parkinson's disease (PD). Coffee intake has additionally been linked to reduced risk of common type of skin cancer and lowered suicide risk.

In contrary to this study another research found that coffee increased odds of living for a long time.

Many experts believe that drinking moderates amounts of the beverage isn't damaging and can be good for health. In the present study, researchers found that drinking over 28 cups of coffee every week could raise the risk of early death.

The study was based on data of 43,727 men and women aged 20-87 from 1971 to 2002. Researchers found that coffee drinkers in the group were 56 percent more likely to die early due to any reason than non-drinkers.

"From our study, it seems safe to drink one to three cups of coffee a day," said Xuemei Sui from University of South Carolina in Columbia and co-author of the study. "Drinking more than four cups of coffee a day may endanger health." A cup of coffee is about 6 to 8 ounces, reported USA Today.

Sui added that caffeine in coffee raises heart rate as well as blood pressure and blood sugar levels. The study didn't find any association between coffee consumption and risk of early death in people over age 55 years.

The study is published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.