Filter or Instant: Which Coffee Accelerates Aging
A study published in npj Science of Food, based on UK Biobank data (about 49,000 people), found that filtered coffee is associated with slower biological aging, while instant coffee is linked to accelerated aging. The differences are small (0.1–0.2 years) and not significant at the individual level. The association is stronger in men, smokers, and people over 60. The authors emphasize the observational nature of the work and the impossibility of establishing causality.
A new study published in the journal npj Science of Food, based on data from the British UK Biobank, has shown that the way coffee is prepared may be linked to the pace of biological aging. The study involved about 49,000 participants with an average age of 56. Researchers divided participants by type of coffee consumed (filtered, instant, and others) and analyzed three aging biomarkers, including telomere length and two indicators of biological age based on blood tests and medical data. After adjusting for factors such as age, sex, smoking, alcohol, and chronic diseases, they found that filtered coffee drinkers had longer telomeres and lower biological age, indicating slower aging. In contrast, instant coffee consumption was associated with shorter telomeres and accelerated aging. However, the differences were small—about one to two tenths of a year of biological age—which is not considered significant at the individual level. The association with instant coffee was strongest in men, smokers, and people over 60 who drank more than three cups a day. The researchers emphasize that this is an observational study conducted at a single point in time, so it cannot be claimed that filtered coffee slows aging and instant coffee accelerates it. Coffee consumption data were based on self-reports, and most participants were of European descent, limiting the generalizability of the results.