Coffee is an internationally beloved morning beverage, after-dinner drink, and a pick-me-up for everything in between. Science has flip-flopped back and forth on whether or not the health benefits of consuming coffee outweigh consequences, however. But in the last decade there’s been a substantial amount of prevailing evidence collected from millions of patients that supports the idea the drink has the power to lower the risk of cancer, heart disease, and even death.

“Drinking moderate amounts of coffee is linked to lower rates of pretty much all cardiovascular disease,” Healthcare Triage’s writer John Green said in the video. “Even consumers who are at the very high end of the spectrum appear to have minimal, if any, ill effects.”

Science-Backed Benefits of Coffee:

  1. Heart: Based on 36 different studies with 1,270,000 participants, researchers conclude moderate long-term coffee consumption of three to five 8-ounce cups a day lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease. Those who consumed five or more had no higher risk than those who consumed zero.
  2. Stroke: Another 11 studies with nearly 480,000 participants found two to six cups a day was associated with a lower risk of stroke compared to those who drank zero.
  3. Type 2 Diabetes: Drinking at least six to seven cups of caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee a day was found to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by up to a third, while regular consumption decreased the overall likelihood of developing the disease.
  4. Cancer: Drinking two cups of coffee day is associated with a 40 percent lower risk of liver cancer. Coffee consumption also plays no statistical significance in breast or prostate cancer risk. There is a link between coffee consumption and lung cancer, but only found among those who have the disease due to smoking. Meanwhile, coffee consumption has actually been found as a protectant for non-smokers diagnosed with lung cancer. Coffee has been found to lower the risk of liver cancer and death for those who have cirrhosis.
  5. Brain: Coffee intake has been associated with lowering the risk of Parkinson’s disease, age-related cognitive decline, and a potential protective effect against Alzheimer’s disease.
  6. Death: Two meta-analysis — one reviewing 20 studies with approximately one million participants’ medical data and a second reviewed 17 studies with more than one million participants — found drinking coffee is linked to a “significantly reduced chance of death.”