Stuck at your desk? Have a cup of coffee.

Health in a Heartbeat

Good news for coffee-lovers in cubicle land: That daily latte might be doing more than just waking you up. A new study finds that people who regularly drink coffee seem to gain some protection from the increased risk of death associated with prolonged sitting.

Chinese researchers studied data collected by the National Health and Nutrition Survey, focusing on 2007 to 2018. They used a representative sample of over 10,000 U.S. adults and followed participants for up to 12 years.

The study looked at how long people sat each day and how much coffee they drank based on their responses to the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire and a 24-hour dietary recall interview.

Participants were placed into four groups based on the hours per day they spent sitting. They were also placed in four groups based on coffee consumption, measured in grams per day.

The study found there was a 46% greater risk of dying from any cause and a 79% greater risk of dying from cardiovascular disease for those who sat for more than eight hours a day, compared with those who sat no more than four hours.

But those who drank coffee were at a significantly lower risk. The most dedicated coffee drinkers had a 33% lower risk of dying from any cause and a 54% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease compared with those who didn’t drink coffee.

Only those who avoided coffee had an increased risk of death due to prolonged sitting.

This doesn’t mean you should be downing a caramel mocha latte every day. And more research is needed to fully understand coffee in all its complexity. But a cup or two of joe might not be a bad idea.