We knew morning coffee was good for us... and science has finally proved it

As new research suggests a cuppa could keep you alive for longer, Helen Coffey celebrates that, for once, we’re not being told to give up one of life’s greatest simple pleasures

January is all too often the month of “no”. No to drinking (thanks Dry January). No to meat (thanks Veganuary). No to carbs (thanks new diet app that suggests exclusively eating cottage cheese for every meal).

But there’s one thing you finally don’t need to say no to: your morning coffee. And scientists even have our backs on this one. Praise be!

It’s not just that getting your caffeine fix isn’t manifestly bad for you, either; it could actually keep you alive for longer. New research has found a link between drinking a pre-lunch coffee and a significantly reduced risk of heart disease. According to a decade-long study of 40,000 US adults by Tulane University in Louisiana, people who were specifically morning coffee drinkers were 31 per cent less likely to die of cardiovascular disease – and 16 per cent less likely to die earlier of any cause at all – than those who drank no coffee.

As with so much in life, timing is everything: there was no marked difference between those who drank coffee throughout the day and those who drank none at all in terms of mortality rates.

“Our findings indicate that it’s not just whether you drink coffee or how much you drink, but the time of day when you drink coffee that’s important,” said the study’s lead author, Dr Lu Qi. “We don’t typically give advice about timing in our dietary guidance, but perhaps we should be thinking about this in the future.”

Among the stifling web of wellness gurus and lifestyle influencers constantly telling us that drinking caffeine is tantamount to communing with the devil, there’s something truly beautiful about seeing science-based evidence proving that indulging in one of life’s greatest small pleasures could mean you end up outliving a detox queen who’s pounding the green juice.

Cup of joy: The popularity of a morning coffee will mean many are on the right side of this study’s findings (Getty/iStockphoto)

When I read the following words, written by Professor Thomas Lüscher from the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals in London in response to this latest research, I felt a wave of smugness radiate around my entire body: “Overall, we must accept the now substantial evidence that coffee drinking, particularly in the morning hours, is likely to be healthy. Thus, drink your coffee, but do so in the morning.” You got it, Prof.

It’s especially welcome in the current era of social media extremes, where #cleaneating content abounds and the surge of the #tradwife lifestyle aesthetic sees us bombarded with TikTok videos showing flawless-skinned, perennially thin women with shiny hair making every single thing they eat and drink from scratch. Sure, there’s something to be said for swerving overly processed food and aiming for a healthier diet – but the obsession with raw foods and restrictive eating, with avoiding anything “not natural” that hasn’t fallen straight off a tree, with endless “restocking” videos of perky blondes lining up health drinks and supplements in their carefully curated fridges, is just another way to make us feel that we’re constantly falling short.

Most of all, none of the above feels very fun, does it? There’s perhaps a reason that coffee has long been framed as a vice, a guilty pleasure to be curbed: because there’s something inherently decadent about the ritual of a morning coffee. The filling of the cafetiere, heaped tablespoons piled high with velvety grounds; that deep, evocative aroma as it percolates; the satisfaction of the plunge and pour; the flavour hit as you take that first sip; the light buzz of caffeine zinging through your bloodstream. In a world where self-denial is seen as saintly, we struggle to believe that something so profoundly enjoyable could be anything other than sinful.

But it is. We’ve got the stats to prove it. And even if it wasn’t – even if, as so often happens, the science changes and we’re told that coffee is killing us once more – I don’t think I’d care. Saying “yes” to life’s small, simple joys is one resolution I might just be able to keep this year.