USC Study: Coffee Drinkers Live Longer

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A new USC study found that people who drink coffee appear to live longer.

Dr. Veronica Wendy Setiawan is the lead author of the study and an associate professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

"People who drink more coffee have lower death rates compared to those who didn't drink coffee," she said.

It doesn't matter if you like it hot, iced, regular or decaf.

People who drink just one cup of coffee a day have a 12 percent lower risk of death from heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, respiratory and kidney disease, according to the study.

Those who drink three cups a day have an 18 percent lower risk of death from those same illnesses, researchers said.

"It's very reassuring, I think to me and maybe for most people, that you see these similar, very consistent benefits of coffee in very diverse populations," Setiawan explained.

The study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health and followed 185,000 people for 16 years, found that coffee can help prolong life, regardless of race and gender.

Funding for the study has been extended by another five years so researchers can look into coffee consumption in relation to specific types of cancer.

"It's comforting to know that I'm saving my life right now," Whitney Reynolds joked.

"I think it's encouraging to know that much coffee is good for you," coffee drinker Kandice Jung said.