A morning cup of coffee might do more than momentarily boost your energy and spirits.
Full-test java also appears to help women age more gracefully, a new study says.
Middle-aged women who regularly drank caffeinated coffee were more likely to stay mentally sharp and physically functional as they aged, researchers reported Monday at a meeting of the American Society for Nutrition.
Each extra cup was tied to a 2% to 5% increased chance of aging gracefully, results show.
“The findings suggest that caffeinated coffee — not tea or decaf — may uniquely support aging trajectories that preserve both mental and physical function,” researcher Sara Mahdavi, a post-doctoral fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said in a news release.
For the study, researchers tracked more than 47,500 women participating in the Nurses’ Health Study, a long-term research project that has collected data since 1984.
