Good news for those who can’t face the day without their coffee: some while ago a major study found that people who drink between one and five cups a day are slightly less likely to die prematurely than those who never touch the stuff. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health followed more than 200,000 doctors, nurses and other health professionals in the US for between 20 and 30 years. During that period, 19,500 of the women and 12,400 of the men died. Once the prevalence of smokers among coffee drinkers had been accounted for, drinking coffee was associated with a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and suicide. Consuming one or two cups a day was linked with an 8% reduced risk of dying from any cause during the course of the study, rising to 12% among those who drank five cups. This remained the case whether their brew was caffeinated or decaffeinated. Although there’s no proof of a causal link, the researchers speculate that antioxidant compounds in coffee – lignans and chlorogenic acid – could have a beneficial effect.

However, other experts were quick to stress that the key to long life is not downing endless cups of coffee, but living an all-round healthy lifestyle.