Your coffee drinking habit, which you may idly promise to someday cut back, may actually be saving your life—really! Studies show that routine coffee consumption may make you feel happier as well as cut heart disease and diabetes risk.

Powerful Antioxidants: Both unroasted (green beans) and roasted coffee beans are known to have a host of antioxidant compounds, most notably CQAs (Caffeoyl Quinic Acids). And given our java drinking habits, most of us are taking in an unrecognized but significant source of this antioxidant power. A recent study showed consuming 3 cups of freshly brewed Arabica coffee (rich in CQAs) daily for four weeks resulted in lower circulating levels of markers for oxidative damage to DNA, compared to not drinking coffee for four weeks. (Damage to DNA is thought to be a key feature in diseases such as cancer.)

Happier Mood: According to a National Institute of Health study, adults drinking four cups or more of coffee daily were about 10% less likely to be depressed than non-drinkers. And a recent study from Harvard School of Public Health suggests drinking two plus cups daily of caffeinated coffee acts as a mild antidepressant and positively impacts brain neurotransmitters such as dopamine.

Healthier Heart & Blood Vessels: Coffee drinking may also cut heart disease risk.  After evaluating more than 1 million study participants across 36 different research studies, moderate coffee intake of 3-4 cups daily was associated with a significant reduction in heart disease risk. 

Dodge Diabetes: Drinking either decaf or fully loaded coffee significantly lowers risk of Type 2 diabetes that impacts more than 350 million adults worldwide, according to a recent analysis of existing studies. For every two cups of coffee intake, there was about a 10-12% reduction in Type 2 diabetes risk.

Better Brain Function: Coffee’s antioxidant content also appears to provide some protection against age-related loss of cognitive function and may delay the onset of Alzheimer’s. In one study, folks over the age of 65 with mild cognitive loss who averaged about 3 cups daily did not progress to Alzheimer’s over a two to four-year follow-up period, unlike non-coffee drinkers over the same time period.