However, it’s just the latest study to conclude that coffee can extend our lives. Earlier this year, a decade-long study of nearly 500,000 people found that those who drink up to three cups of coffee are 20% less likely to develop cardiovascular disease or suffer a stroke than those who don’t drink coffee at all. And those moderate drinkers are 12% less likely to die from any cause.

Published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, the study followed volunteers for 11 years. 22% were non-coffee drinkers, 58% drank up to three cups a day and 20% drank over three. Those who drank around three cups a day were less likely to be diabetic than zero-coffee drinkers and the people who drank over three were no more likely to suffer from high blood pressure than those who consumed less (which is something previous studies have contradicted).

So, what’s so good about coffee? The bean contains a number of useful nutrients including vitamins B2 and B3, magnesium, potassium, as well as a load of antioxidants that help protect the body against free radical damage. Antioxidants also protect us from inflammation – which is known to be linked to conditions such as type 2 diabetes and cancers.

Drinking 3 cups of coffee (instant, ground or decaf) may help you to live longer, yet more studies confirm