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Coffee consumption may reduce risk of mortality with sedentary lifestyle
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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A study recently published in the journal BMC Public Health found that drinking coffee may mitigate the negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle.
Part of a healthy lifestyle includes regular physical activity. The American Heart Association recommends that adults get at least 150 minutes of exercise that gets their heart rate up each week to maintain good health.
Previous studies have shown that a sedentary lifestyle negatively affects health and increases the risk of diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, obesity, osteoporosis, cancer and heart disease.
Chronic inactivity is also associated with increased all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.
A new study by researchers at Soochow University in China and published in the journal BMC Public Health has found that drinking coffee may reduce the harmful effects of a sedentary lifestyle.
Researchers from Soochow University found that sitting for more than eight hours a day was associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease compared with sitting for less than four hours a day. However, those who drank the most coffee had a reduced risk of death compared with those who did not drink coffee.
The study analyzed data on sitting time and coffee consumption from nearly 10,700 participants in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2007 to 2018.
"In recent years, increased TV viewing and computer use, as well as less physically demanding jobs, have led people to become more sedentary in their daily lives," said Dr. Bingyang Li, a professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at Soochow University College of Medicine and the study's author. "Even if adults follow physical activity recommendations, prolonged sitting may be detrimental to metabolic health."
"Sedentary behaviour is emerging as an important health risk factor and is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. These adverse health consequences impose a significant financial burden on global health."
"However, coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world. Growing evidence also suggests that regular coffee consumption may reduce the incidence and mortality of chronic diseases due to the powerful antioxidant properties of coffee components," Lee continued. "Therefore, even small beneficial effects from coffee can have a significant impact on public health."
An analysis of the data found that sitting more than eight hours a day was associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease compared with sitting less than four hours a day.
After accounting for coffee consumption, the researchers found that participants who drank the most coffee had a reduced risk of mortality compared to those who did not drink coffee.
The researchers also reported that non-coffee drinkers who sat for six hours or more per day were about 1.6 times more likely to die from all causes than coffee drinkers who sat for less than six hours per day.
"One study found that prolonged and continuous sitting impairs glucose metabolism and increases inflammation," Lee said.
"Sedentary behavior is an important and independent predictor of inflammation, as it induces pro-inflammatory markers and decreases anti-inflammatory markers. In addition, previous studies have shown that sedentary behavior alters skeletal muscle metabolism, with each additional hour of sitting or lying down during waking hours increasing metabolic risks by 39%."
"The benefits of coffee drinking in improving overall survival in adults compared with sedentary behavior are numerous. Coffee drinking reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome, which worsens inflammation. The association between coffee drinking and reduced all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease has been confirmed in many studies in adults."
After reviewing the study, Dr. Yu-Ming Ni, a board-certified cardiologist and lipidologist at MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fontana, California, urged readers to be cautious about the study's findings.
"This study shows an association, and we're trying to understand the relationship between coffee and cardiovascular disease," Ni explained. "But when looking at associations, it's hard to determine whether coffee is the cause of the reduction in cardiovascular disease or whether there's some other factor that the person drinking coffee is doing that is reducing their cardiovascular mortality."