Coffee and Tea: Your Secret to Staying Strong as You Age
A recent study suggests that consuming coffee and tea in midlife may be linked to a reduced risk of physical frailty in later years. The study conducted in Singapore found that adults who consumed higher amounts of caffeine through coffee or tea had significantly better physical functioning in their later years.
The study was led by Professor Koh Wen Boon from the Longevity Medicine Program at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. It was based on data collected from over 12,000 participants aged between 45 and 74 years over a 20-year follow-up period.
Published on July 21, 2023, in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association (JAMDA), participants were first interviewed in midlife, with an average age of 53 years, using structured questionnaires from 1993 to 1998. During these baseline interviews, participants were asked about their habits of consuming caffeine-containing beverages like coffee and tea, as well as foods like chocolate, in terms of frequency and portion size. They also provided information on their social and demographic characteristics, medical history, height, weight, dietary habits, physical activities, and sleep duration.
In the second follow-up interviews conducted from 2006 to 2010, participants were asked to report their weight, among other questions. During the third and final follow-up interviews, conducted from 2014 to 2017 when the average age of the participants was 73 years, they were asked, among other things, about their energy levels and were assessed for handgrip strength and the time taken to complete the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test.
Physical frailty was defined as having two or more of the following four elements:
- Weight loss (more than 10% loss between the second and third follow-up).
- Fatigue (if the answer was yes to the question).
- Slow performance of tasks.
- Weak handgrip strength.
Coffee and tea were the main sources of caffeine consumption in this group, representing 84% and 12% of total caffeine intake, respectively. A total of 68.5% of participants in this group consumed coffee daily. Among them, 52.9% drank one cup daily, 42.2% consumed two to three cups daily, while 4.9% drank four cups or more daily.
As a result, participants in the study were divided into four categories based on the amount of coffee they consumed: those who didn’t drink coffee daily, those who drank one cup daily, those who consumed two to three cups daily, and those who drank four cups or more daily. Tea drinkers were also divided into four categories: those who didn’t drink tea at all, those who consumed it at least once a month, those who consumed it at least once a week, and those who drank tea daily.
Professor Koh, who led the study, stated, “Our results show that consuming coffee or black and green tea in midlife is independently associated with a significant reduction in the risk of physical frailty in later life. Participants who drank four cups or more of coffee daily significantly lowered their chances of physical frailty in later years compared to those who didn’t drink coffee daily. Participants who consumed black and green tea daily also had a significantly lower risk of physical frailty compared to those who didn’t drink tea.”
The researchers also evaluated the relationship between caffeine consumption and the risk of physical frailty in later years. Consuming larger amounts of caffeine was associated with a reduced risk of physical frailty, regardless of the source of caffeine. Among the four components of physical frailty, the associations were strongest in the tests measuring handgrip strength and rope tightness, compared to self-reported measures of weight loss and fatigue.
Interestingly, in other experimental studies, caffeine was found to promote muscle cell proliferation and improve muscle weight in mice. In addition to caffeine, coffee and tea also contain biologically active, antioxidant-rich polyphenols that have anti-inflammatory properties, and are associated with a reduced risk of diseases that increase the risk of physical frailty, such as diabetes, heart and vascular diseases, obesity, and neurodegenerative diseases.
However, further research is needed to determine the actual components and mechanisms underlying the link between coffee/tea and human physical function, as Professor Koh added, “Coffee and tea are essential beverages in many societies worldwide. Our studies suggest that consuming these caffeine-containing beverages in midlife may be associated with a reduced risk of physical frailty in later life. Nevertheless, more research is needed to confirm this.”
