Genetics and caffeine metabolism

Caffeine for anti-aging, what’s Stanford studies say.

In this day and age, it’s not uncommon for us to worry that coffee can be dangerous when consumed, even in small doses. However, this fear has yet to be substantiated. Not only do coffee and other caffeinated beverages not present a risk for the general population—in fact, drinking up to 400 mg a day, for adults of 70 kg, has not been connected to any safety concerns—but a study from Stanford even shows that there is a correlation between coffee and longevity.
According to the study from Stanford University—which was published in Nature January 2017—coffee drinkers tend to live longer than their abstaining counterparts because of caffeine’s anti-inflammatory properties. The Nature study also showed that coffee also has a positive effect on aging. As a matter of fact, the researchers hypothesise that the metabolites found in coffee—examples include theobromine and theophylline—counteract the processes of aging and inflammation.

Why does drinking coffee have a beneficial effect on longevity?

Well, this is because inflammation is associated with hundreds or even thousands of adverse medical conditions. For example, according to Professor David Furman—the author of the study—more than one thousand studies have shown that chronic inflammation is associated with conditions as varied as dementia, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s, osteoarthritis, and major depressive disorder. Indeed, Dr Furman says, over ninety percent of those non-communicable diseases related to aging have been linked to chronic inflammation.
In another study—this one being a joint project carried out by Stanford’s School of Medicine and France’s University of Bordeaux—Researchers examined healthy adults in two groups. In the first group, ages ranged from twenty to thirty; in the second, the participants were all sixty or older. The participants were observed for a number of years. In doing so, the researchers learned about the role of the protein IL-1 beta in the inflammatory process. According to their observations, 9 out of the 12 individuals who showed high activation in their clusters of inflammatory genes had higher blood pressure. Moreover, the group members who had such high cluster activity were also more likely to suffer from artery stiffening, which constitutes a risk factor for heart problems. They were also likely to die at an earlier age than their counterparts—and they had higher amounts of IL-1 beta.

When they incubated a certain type of immune cell with cells from two kinds of metabolites, not only did they increase the functioning of the gene cluster, but there was also a significant increase in production of IL-1 beta. Indeed, when the researchers gave these combined immune cells to mice, the animals developed both high blood pressure and high inflammation. Part of the reason their blood pressure increased was that these cells affected the way their kidneys worked. Now, with all this being said, the researchers discovered—thanks to this second study—that IL-1 was linked to high inflammation and high blood pressure.
On a smaller scale, caffeinated products have also been correlated with higher alertness, better cardiovascular health, and improved athletic performance. And on a larger scale, drinking caffeinated products like coffee can even lower one’s chances of developing neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and the various forms of dementia.

All in all, drinking coffee can be quite beneficial: it can reduce the chances of inflammation, thanks to its metabolites, and its anti-inflammatory properties can have a terrific effect on longevity. So, don’t hesitate the next time you reach for a cup of Joe; you might just be lengthening your life.