Coffee drinkers may be at lower risk of early death, study suggests

Coffee drinkers who consumed 2.5 to 4.5 cups a day, without sugar, had a 29% lower risk of death than non-coffee drinkers, in a seven-year study. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA

People who drink coffee – whether with or without sugar – appear to have a lower risk of an early death, although experts caution the finding may not be down to the brew itself.

About 98m cups of coffee are drunk every day in the UK, according to the British Coffee Association, with the National Coffee Association revealing that in the US the figure is about 517m cups.