Sipping Towards Longevity: Midlife Coffee and Tea Consumption Reduces Physical Frailty in Later Life
A recent study led by Kevin Y Chua and his team has brought some good news for coffee and tea lovers. The research focused on the impact of caffeine consumption at midlife on physical frailty in late life. Physical frailty refers to a state of increased vulnerability to stressors due to declines in function across multiple physiological systems, which leads to adverse health outcomes. It's a common condition in older adults and is associated with a higher risk of falls, disability, hospitalization, and mortality.
The study involved a cohort of Chinese adults living in Singapore, with data collected over a 20-year period. The participants' consumption of caffeine-containing beverages was assessed at midlife using a food-frequency questionnaire, and their physical frailty was evaluated in later life. The results revealed that those who consumed four or more cups of coffee daily or drank tea every day at midlife had significantly lower odds of becoming physically frail in late life.
In conclusion, the study suggests that higher consumption of caffeine at midlife, particularly through coffee and tea, could be associated with a reduced likelihood of physical frailty in late life. This finding underscores the potential role of dietary habits in promoting healthier aging and longevity.
Article Information
Consumption of Coffee, Tea, and Caffeine at Midlife, and the Risk of Physical Frailty in Late Life
Published in Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. Kevin Y Chua et al.
Abstract
Objectives: Our study evaluated the prospective association between the consumption of caffeine-containing beverages at midlife and the risk of physical frailty at late life within a population-based cohort of Chinese adults living in Singapore over a follow-up period of 20 years.
Design: Prospective cohort study.
Setting and participants: We used data from 12,583 participants from the baseline and third follow-up interviews of the XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Participants had a mean age of 53 years at baseline (1993-1998), and mean age of 73 years during the third follow-up (2014-2017).
Methods: At baseline, habitual consumption of caffeine-containing beverages was evaluated using a validated semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire. During the third follow-up, physical frailty was assessed using the modified Cardiovascular Health Study phenotype.
Results: Compared with non-daily drinkers, those who drank 4 or more cups of coffee daily had reduced odds of physical frailty (odds ratio [OR], 0.54; 95% CI, 0.38-0.76). Similarly, compared with those who hardly drank tea, participants who drank tea everyday also had reduced odds (OR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.71-0.95). Total daily caffeine intake at midlife was associated with reduced likelihood of frailty at late life in a dose-response relationship (Ptrend < .001). Relative to their counterparts in the lowest quartile of daily caffeine intake (0-67.6 mg/d), participants in the highest quartile (223.0-910.4 mg/d) had an OR of 0.77 (95% CI, 0.66-0.91). Higher caffeine consumption was associated with lower likelihood of being in the slowest quintile for timed up-and-go (TUG) and weakest quintile for handgrip strength.
Conclusions and implications: In this cohort of Chinese adults, higher consumption of caffeine at midlife, via coffee and tea, was associated with a reduced likelihood of physical frailty in late life.
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