Can coffee make people live longer? 

Whether coffee is beneficial for you has been the centre of long-lasting debates. The story is not as cut and dry as people like to think – things are quite nuanced. It really depends on the amount of your daily intake. 

The paper published by Researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College of London (KCL) adds to this story. They found out that optimum amounts of coffee per day slowed down biological aging in people with mental illnesses. 

Aging can be measured in different ways. One way is to measure the shortening of telomeres, which is a protective cap that exists at the end of our chromosomes. Telomeres shorten with age, which affects the normal functioning of a cell, consequently reducing an individual’s lifespan.  

“Our study shows that up to four cups of coffee per day is linked to longer telomeres among people with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. This is comparable to a biological age of five years younger than non-coffee drinkers” PhD student and first author of study, Vid Malkar, told the press office at KCL.  

The data was obtained from 436 participants with Bipolar disorder, Schizophrenia, or other major depressive disorders, who were between the ages of 18-65. The number of cups taken was self-reported, and the experiment lasted from 2007 to 2018. 

People with mental illness often have shorter telomeres. By drinking a specific amount of coffee and lengthening the telomeres, this may slow the biological ageing process in these individuals.  

As the coffee intake increased, the beneficial effect of coffee also increased up to a point. After hitting five cups per day – which exceeds the NHS recommended amount – the effect was mitigated.   

“On one hand, we know that excessive coffee consumption can have negative effects on health, such as reducing sleep quality. However, our new study suggests that coffee consumption up to a certain point may have benefits for biological ageing,” Dr Monica Aas, MRC research fellow at KCL and second author of study, said in the university’s press release.  

The beneficial effects of coffee are speculated to be brought by its antioxidant/anti-inflammatory properties or its ability to influence enzymes that cause shredding of telomeres, but further research is needed to find a definitive answer.  

Nonetheless, the study emphasises that the health benefits of coffee are not “black or white”. Just like many foods and drinks, Coffee consumption should follow the amounts recommended by health organisations.  

By Kazuma Oura on January 8, 2026.

Image by Roger Price.