A lot of people’s lives are patterned on sitting through their work hours, with their eyes glued to the computer screen. Corporate work patterns make us choose a sedentary lifestyle, devoid of much physical movement. However, this can increase the risk of premature death from sitting for too long. A recent study, led by Bingyan Li, Medical College of Soochow University and published in 2024, revealed the perfect antidote to this unhealthy lifestyle and the increased risk of death. It's simple, drinking coffee.

The study analysed over 10000 US adults and found out that people who drink coffee while following a sedentary lifestyle are protected from the negative effects. This results further open up an arena of opportunities on how we can mitigate the risk of premature death and other harmful impacts of following an inactive, sedentary lifestyle.

The study was conducted for 13 years:

The study was conducted on 10000 US adults for a period of 13 years. They were grouped based on their daily sitting time and their coffee drinking habits. The research – to ensure the accuracy of the results – also considered other factors that can affect mortality rate, such as age, sex, race, education level, income, body mass index, and various health conditions.

Dangers of prolonged sitting

The study demonstrated that people who sat for eight hours a day had a 46% higher risk of dying, and a 79% higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. However, coffee drinkers showed a 33% lower risk of dying from any cause, and a dramatic 54% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases.

Coffee's protective health effects:

The study suggests that coffee’s anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties can help in serving as the perfect antidote to the harmful effects of prolonged sitting which can cause inflammation in the body. However, the study further added that while coffee can counteract the harmful effects of a sedentary lifestyle, we should be more proactive in working out and embracing a physically active lifestyle.

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