Thinking about that third cup of coffee? You just might live longer, new research suggests

There’s more data that being a coffee drinker can be good for your health.

Downing up to three cups of coffee daily is associated with lower risks for stroke and death from cardiovascular disease and death from all causes, suggests research presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in France.

“Our results suggest that regular coffee consumption is safe, as even high daily intake was not associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes and all-cause mortality after a follow-up of 10 to 15 years,” said study author Dr. Judit Simon of the Heart and Vascular Centre, Semmelweis University, in Budapest, Hungary. The study, yet to be peer-reviewed, was selected for presentation by the ESC program committee.

Coffee has long been thought to have health benefits with low to moderate consumption of coffee possibly supplying energy, alertness and increased concentration, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Previous peer-reviewed research has suggested drinking coffee might reduce the risk of stroke, heart disease, heart failure, Type 2 diabetes and certain cancers.

The new study involved 468,629 participants of the UK BioBank database. Compared to non-coffee drinkers, drinking up to three cups of coffee daily was associated with a 21% lower risk of stroke, 17% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease and 12% lower risk of all cause death.

A comparison of heart MRIs revealed coffee drinkers “had healthier sized and better functioning hearts,” Simon said. “This is the largest study to systematically assess the cardiovascular effects of regular coffee consumption in a population without diagnosed heart disease.”

Before you start downing more joe, you should know some research has suggested drinking too much coffee, four to six cups daily, can increase health risks.

For some, too much coffee can induce anxiety, jitteriness and insomnia. A daily average of no more than 400 milligrams of caffeine is recommended, according to health experts at Harvard and Johns Hopkins University.

“Up to five ups of coffee each day can typically be considered safe,” said Dr. eth Martin, a cardiologist and associate professor at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

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