 Numerous studies have pointed to the health benefits of coffee, but there are still lingering questions about just how much you should be drinking and the type of coffee you should be using. Now, a new human study is giving us some answers. Drawing on data from UK Biobank, scientists have once again confirmed the association between coffee and better health outcomes with ground coffee emerging as the healthiest type. Coffee was once considered rather unhealthy. One study from 1988 found that 80% of physicians recommended avoiding coffee to their patients with cardiovascular problems, which may be because coffee may transiently elevate blood pressure. However, in recent decades, evidence to the contrary has been steadily accumulating. Now the European Society of Cardiology considers drinking 3-4 cups of coffee a day to be moderately beneficial and the American Heart Association notes that the evidence for coffee's health benefits stacks up quickly. Coffee is also associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes and Parkinson's disease. Caffeine is by far the most well-known ingredient in coffee. Coffee contains more than 100 biologically active chemicals, including polyphenols, which are potent antioxidants. Like many recent studies, this new study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology makes use of UK Biobank, a huge open repository of various health data on around half a million British citizens. The size of UK Biobank enables researchers to control for many variables. In this case, covariates included age, gender, ethnicity, BMI, comorbidities such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes, and lifestyle risk factors of smoking, tea consumption, and alcohol consumption. Participants with a cardiovascular diagnosis at baseline work excluded in the median age was 58 years. Importantly, the study considered three popular types of coffee, ground, instant, and decaf. Participants were only able to select one type of coffee and then were grouped into six intake categories ranging from zero cups to more than five cups. In line with most existing studies, coffee consumption was shown to be generally beneficial. Coffee intake of up to five cups per day was associated with significant reductions in the risks of cardiovascular disease, congestive cardiac failure, coronary heart disease, stroke, and various arrhythmias. The biggest risk reduction was detected in the two to three cups per day group. Ground coffee consistently outperformed the other two types, including arrhythmias, cardiovascular mortality, and all-cause mortality. The ideal dose of ground coffee appears to be two to three cups per day. People who drank this amount were a full 27% less likely to die from all causes than non-drinkers during the follow-up period. Despite the inherent limitations of this study, the results are compelling and in line with previous research. It appears that moderate coffee consumption may confer some protection against cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. So will this study change how you view coffee or how much you drink? Let us know in the comments. When there's more to share, we'll have it for you here, so please subscribe so you don't miss out. I'm Ryan O'Shea and we'll see you next time on Lifespan News.