Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation.
For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Dan Juhl, Partner at E2SG Partners. Juhl and his partners develop clean energy projects — in particular, integrated systems that combine solar, wind, and/or battery storage. He discusses how commercial-scale, hybrid solar and wind systems are a “real match” that can circumvent transmission system concerns.
The Electricity Transportation System is Failing
High-voltage transmission lines are overburdened, lack regulatory oversight, and as a result, are poorly planned. Accordingly, rural energy projects often come up against costly transmission upgrades to get their electricity to consumers. The alternative of building wind and solar farms closer to consumption, Dan Juhl explains, often comes up against resistance from the community.
Developers can work around the transmission system, but high-voltage lines are not the only problem. New York Times op-ed contributors Justin Gillis and Tyler H. Norris recently raised the issue of more local, 115,000 to 230,000 volt power lines — identifying them as “What Is Really Strangling the Energy Transition.” But what about even more localized power lines?
However, in his two decades of developing commercial-scale renewable power, Juhl has found that community-scale renewable energy systems actually relieve some of the stress of energy transmission.
How can we economically put commercial scale power into the system and do it in a more efficient way and not really tax the transmission system, but actually help it.
The Case for Generating Power Where It Is Consumed
Juhl explains how building smaller-scale, distributed energy generation systems that blend into the community is a win-win. When the project is close to the electricity consumers, it does not require an updated transmission line. Avoiding transmission also makes better use of the electricity, as transforming and carrying electricity incurs losses.
Projects located within the distribution network act more as a reduction of electricity load than as a generator, says Juhl. They free up space on existing transmission lines, as the community no longer needs to import the electricity they generate. Juhl stresses the importance of combating load as consumers electrify their cars and buildings. When it comes to solar’s often-raised intermittency issue, Juhl believes that pairing wind and solar together is especially effective.
For-profit electric utilities, in particular, are trying to sell the electricity that they generate. They earn a guaranteed rate of return when they build power plants, so they do not want to buy electricity from self-generators — even if that electricity is cheaper for their customers. This conflict of interest carries the most weight in regulated markets, where one utility controls electric generation and the distribution.
Developing renewable energy in rural electric cooperative territory has its own challenges, explains Juhl. Because of “all-requirements” contracts, distribution cooperatives must buy nearly all of their electricity from one wholesale provider.
Still, Juhl says utilities would be better off to embrace distributed generation. When utilities are refusing to interconnect customer-owned generation systems, customers will be pushed to pair their generation with storage. And on the combination of energy conservation, wind generation, solar generation, and battery storage? “That’s when the wire clipper comes out,” says Juhl.
Juhl believes that his “solar bank,” a battery storage and energy management system, can scale up and provide energy consumers with more options. If the utilities are concerned about their monopoly, they should be very concerned about the advent of distributed renewables with storage becoming a real problem.
For concrete examples of how towns and cities can take action toward gaining more control over their clean energy future, explore ILSR’s Community Power Toolkit. Explore local and state policies and programs that help advance clean energy goals across the country, using ILSR’s interactive Community Power Map.
By: Maria McCoy
Maria McCoy is a Researcher with the Energy Democracy Initiative. In this role, she contributes to blog posts, podcasts, video content, and interactive features.
ILSR posts about PURPA, the federal law that governs the rules and pricing connecting projects to the grid.
Episode 33 of local Energy Rules, where Ed Marston and John Farrell talk about a federal court ruling that laid the groundwork for projects like Dan’s Solar-Wind Hybrids.Read the New York Times opinion piece on
2021 Local Solar Developer Survey, which shows how electric utilities and policymakers are creating unexpected delays and added costs for solar projects.For more on the economic impact of community-owned generation facilities, read ILSR’s
Too much belly fat can increase your risk of certain chronic conditions. Drinking less alcohol, eating more protein, and lifting weights are just a few steps you can take to lose belly fat.
Too much belly fat can increase your risk of certain chronic conditions. Drinking less alcohol, eating more protein, and lifting weights are just a few steps you can take to lose belly fat. Belly fat is more than a nuisance that makes your clothes feel tight. It’s seriously harmful.
One type of belly fat — referred to as visceral fat — is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other conditions (1Trusted Source). Many health organizations use body mass index (BMI) to classify weight and predict the risk of metabolic disease.
However, this is misleading, as people with excess belly fat are at an increased risk even if they look thin (2Trusted Source). Though losing fat from this area can be difficult, there are several things you can do to reduce excess abdominal fat.
Here are 19 effective tips to lose belly fat, backed by scientific studies.
1. Eat plenty of soluble fiber
Soluble fiber absorbs water and forms a gel that helps slow down food as it passes through your digestive system. Studies show that this type of fiber promotes weight loss by helping you feel full, so you naturally eat less. It may also decrease the number of calories your body absorbs from food (3Trusted Source, 4Trusted Source, 5Trusted Source).
What’s more, soluble fiber may help fight belly fat. An observational study in over 1,100 adults found that for every 10-gram increase in soluble fiber intake, belly fat gain decreased by 3.7% over a 5-year period (6Trusted Source).
Make an effort to consume high fiber foods every day. Excellent sources of soluble fiber include: flax seeds , shirataki noodles ,Brussels sprouts, avocados , legumes & blackberries
2. Avoid foods that contain trans fats
Trans fats are created by pumping hydrogen into unsaturated fats, such as soybean oil. They’re found in some margarines and spreads and also often added to packaged foods, but many food producers have stopped using them.
These fats have been linked to inflammation, heart disease, insulin resistance, and abdominal fat gain in observational and animal studies (7Trusted Source, 8Trusted Source, 9Trusted Source).
A 6-year study found that monkeys who ate a high trans fat diet gained 33% more abdominal fat than those eating a diet high in monounsaturated fat (10Trusted Source).
To help reduce belly fat and protect your health, read ingredient labels carefully and stay away from products that contain trans fats. These are often listed as partially hydrogenated fats.
3. Don’t drink too much alcohol
Alcohol can have health benefits in small amounts, but it’s seriously harmful if you drink too much.
Research suggests that too much alcohol can also make you gain belly fat. Observational studies link heavy alcohol consumption to a significantly increased risk of developing central obesity — that is, excess fat storage around the waist (11Trusted Source, 12Trusted Source).
Cutting back on alcohol may help reduce your waist size. You don’t need to give it up altogether, but limiting the amount you drink in a single day can help.
One study on alcohol use involved more than 2,000 people. Results showed those who drank alcohol daily but averaged less than one drink per day had less belly fat than those who drank less frequently but consumed more alcohol on the days they drank (12Trusted Source).
4. Eat a high protein diet
Protein is an extremely important nutrient for weight management. High protein intake increases the release of the fullness hormone PYY, which decreases appetite and promotes fullness. Protein also raises your metabolic rate and helps you to retain muscle mass during weight loss (13Trusted Source, 14Trusted Source, 15Trusted Source).
Many observational studies show that people who eat more protein tend to have less abdominal fat than those who eat a lower protein diet (16Trusted Source, 17Trusted Source, 18Trusted Source).
Be sure to include a good protein source at every meal, such as: meat , fish , eggs , dairy , whey protein & beans
5. Reduce your stress levels
Stress can make you gain belly fat by triggering the adrenal glands to produce cortisol, which is also known as the stress hormone. Research shows that high cortisol levels increase appetite and drive abdominal fat storage (19Trusted Source, 20Trusted Source).
What’s more, women who already have a large waist tend to produce more cortisol in response to stress. Increased cortisol further adds to fat gain around the middle (21Trusted Source).
To help reduce belly fat, engage in pleasurable activities that relieve stress. Practicing yoga or meditation can be effective methods.
6 . Don’t eat a lot of sugary foods
Sugar contains fructose, which has been linked to several chronic diseases when consumed in excess. These include heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and fatty liver disease (22Trusted Source, 23Trusted Source, 24Trusted Source).
Observational studies show a relationship between high sugar intake and increased abdominal fat (25Trusted Source, 26Trusted Source). It’s important to realize that more than just refined sugar can lead to belly fat gain. Even healthier sugars, such as real honey, should be used sparingly.
7. Do aerobic exercise (cardio)
Aerobic exercise (cardio) is an effective way to improve your health and burn calories. Studies also show that it’s one of the most effective forms of exercise for reducing belly fat. However, results are mixed as to whether moderate or high intensity exercise is more beneficial (27Trusted Source, 28Trusted Source, 29Trusted Source).
In any case, the frequency and duration of your exercise program are more important than its intensity. One study found that postmenopausal women lost more fat from all areas when they did aerobic exercise for 300 minutes per week, compared with those who exercised 150 minutes per week (30Trusted Source).
8. Cut back on carbs — especially refined carbs
Reducing your carb intake can be very beneficial for losing fat, including abdominal fat. Diets with under 50 grams of carbs per day cause belly fat loss in people who are overweight, those at risk for type 2 diabetes, and women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) (31Trusted Source, 32Trusted Source, 33Trusted Source).
You don’t have to follow a strict low carb diet. Some research suggests that simply replacing refined carbs with unprocessed starchy carbs may improve metabolic health and reduce belly fat (34Trusted Source, 35Trusted Source).
In the famous Framingham Heart Study, people with the highest consumption of whole grains were 17% less likely to have excess abdominal fat than those who consumed diets high in refined grains (36Trusted Source).
9. Perform resistance training (lift weights)
Resistance training, also known as weight lifting or strength training, is important for preserving and gaining muscle mass. Based on studies involving people with prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, and fatty liver disease, resistance training may also be beneficial for belly fat loss (37Trusted Source, 38Trusted Source).
In fact, one study involving teenagers with overweight showed that a combination of strength training and aerobic exercise led to the greatest decrease in visceral fat (39Trusted Source).
If you decide to start lifting weights, it’s a good idea to get advice from a certified personal trainer.
10. Avoid sugar-sweetened beverages
Sugar-sweetened beverages are loaded with liquid fructose, which can make you gain belly fat. Studies show that sugary drinks lead to increased fat in the liver. One 10-week study found significant abdominal fat gain in people who consumed high fructose beverages (40Trusted Source, 41Trusted Source, 42Trusted Source).
Sugary beverages appear to be even worse than high sugar foods. Since your brain doesn’t process liquid calories the same way it does solid ones, you’re likely to end up consuming too many calories later on and storing them as fat (43Trusted Source, 44Trusted Source).
To lose belly fat, it’s best to completely avoid sugar-sweetened beverages such as: soda , punch , sweet tea , alcoholic mixers containing sugar
11. Get plenty of restful sleep
Sleep is important for many aspects of your health, including weight. Studies show that people who don’t get enough sleep tend to gain more weight, which may include belly fat (45Trusted Source, 46Trusted Source).
A 16-year study involving more than 68,000 women found that those who slept less than 5 hours per night were significantly more likely to gain weight than those who slept 7 hours or more per night (47Trusted Source).
The condition known as sleep apnea, where breathing stops intermittently during the night, has also been linked to excess visceral fat (48Trusted Source).
In addition to sleeping at least 7 hours per night, make sure you’re getting sufficient quality sleep. If you suspect you may have sleep apnea or another sleep disorder, speak to a doctor and get treated.
Keeping a food diary or using an online food tracker or app can help you monitor your calorie intake. This strategy has been shown to be beneficial for weight loss (50Trusted Source, 51Trusted Source).
In addition, food-tracking tools help you to see your intake of protein, carbs, fiber, and micronutrients. Many also allow you to record your exercise and physical activity.
You can find five free apps/websites to track nutrient and calorie intake on this page.
Although fruit juice provides vitamins and minerals, it’s just as high in sugar as soda and other sweetened beverages. Drinking large amounts may carry the same risk for abdominal fat gain (57Trusted Source).
An 8-ounce (240-mL) serving of unsweetened apple juice contains 24 grams of sugar, half of which is fructose (58). To help reduce excess belly fat, replace fruit juice with water, unsweetened iced tea, or sparkling water with a wedge of lemon or lime.
In a 12-week controlled study in men diagnosed with obesity, those who took 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of apple cider vinegar per day lost half an inch (1.4 cm) from their waists (63Trusted Source).
Taking 1–2 tablespoons (15–30 mL) of apple cider vinegar per day is safe for most people and may lead to modest fat loss. However, be sure to dilute it with water, as undiluted vinegar can erode the enamel on your teeth. If you want to try apple cider vinegar, there’s a good selection to choose from online.
16. Eat probiotic foods or take a probiotic supplement
Probiotics are bacteria found in some foods and supplements. They have many health benefits, including helping improve gut health and enhancing immune function (64Trusted Source).
Researchers have found that different types of bacteria play a role in weight regulation and that having the right balance can help with weight loss, including loss of belly fat.
Those shown to reduce belly fat include members of the Lactobacillus family, such as Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactobacillus amylovorus and especially Lactobacillus gasseri (65Trusted Source, 66, 67Trusted Source, 68Trusted Source). Probiotic supplements typically contain several types of bacteria, so make sure you purchase one that provides one or more of these bacterial strains.
17. Try intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting has recently become very popular as a weight loss method. It’s an eating pattern that cycles between periods of eating and periods of fasting (69Trusted Source).
One popular method involves 24-hour fasts once or twice a week. Another consists of fasting every day for 16 hours and eating all your food within an 8-hour period. In a review of studies on intermittent fasting and alternate-day fasting, people experienced a 4–7% decrease in abdominal fat within 6–24 weeks (70).
There’s some evidence that intermittent fasting, and fasting in general, may not be as beneficial for women as for men. Although certain modified intermittent fasting methods appear to be better options, stop fasting immediately if you experience any negative effects.
EGCG is a catechin, which several studies suggest may help you lose belly fat. The effect may be strengthened when green tea consumption is combined with exercise (73Trusted Source, 74, 75Trusted Source)
19. Change your lifestyle and combine different methods
Just doing one of the items on this list won’t have a big effect on its own.If you want good results, you need to combine different methods that have been shown to be effective.
Interestingly, many of these methods are things generally associated with healthy eating and an overall healthy lifestyle. Therefore, changing your lifestyle for the long term is the key to losing your belly fat and keeping it off. When you have healthy habits and eat real food, fat loss tends to follow as a natural side effect.
There are no magic solutions to losing belly fat.Weight loss always requires some effort, commitment, and perseverance on your behalf. Successfully adopting some or all of the strategies and lifestyle goals discussed in this article will definitely help you lose the extra pounds around your waist.
It’s that time of year to muse on what you hope to accomplish over the next 12 months. The best advice when making resolutions is to set goals that are “SMART” – specific, measurable, achievable, relevant (to you) and time-bound.Once you’ve set your goals, what can help you achieve them? Based on our research, we’ve distilled 12 goal-enablers.
These cover four broad principles you can use to keep yourself on track. You don’t have to do all 12. Just focusing on the most relevant three to five can make a big difference.
Set relevant supporting goals
An outcome goal isn’t enough. Set clear supporting goals that equip you to attain that outcome.
1. Behavioural goals stipulate the actions required to reach your outcome goal. If you want to change jobs, for example, behavioural goals could include working out what job you want, networking with relevant people, getting advice on your resume, and submitting at least three job applications each month.
2. Learning goals are the knowledge and skills you need to achieve your goal. Ways to identify your highest-priority learning goals, and how to attain them, include seeking advice from others who have mastered the skill you aim to learn, working with a coach, or watching instructional videos.
3. Sub-goals are small milestones on the way to your goal. They indicate your rate of progress towards attaining your ultimate goal. They can also provide a motivating sense of momentum.
Build your internal motivation: This is the inner energy and focus that fuels, directs and sustains your efforts to reach your goals.
4. Connect goals to passions. If you like feeling like you’re on a mission, try framing your goals as reflecting a novice, apprentice or master level of development. If competition gets you going, perhaps frame your learning or sub-goals as indicating a bronze, silver, gold or platinum level of performance.
6. Build self-efficacy. Your self-efficacy is your belief in your capacity to succeed at a particular task. Set modest initial goals you are likely to achieve (see point 3). Ensure you have adequate resources and support (see point 8). If you find yourself thinking defeatist thoughts – “I don’t think I can do this” or “I’m too old for this” – then stop and think more encouraging thoughts instead.
An enabling context helps keep your goals front of mind and sustains you in working to achieve them.
7. Implementation intentions stipulate when to pursue behavioural goals. These intentions increase the odds of attaining any goal. Two types are:
When-then intentions (for example: “When I am tempted to eat a snack, then I will drink a glass of water and wait 10 minutes to see if I still feel I need that snack”)
After-then intentions (for example: “After I eat lunch each day, then I’ll walk for at least 15 minutes somewhere green with my phone off”).
8. Ensure adequate resources. These could include adequate materials, technology, support of others, time and energy (enabled by an effective recovery routine).
9. Seek useful feedback to help gauge your progress and correct errors. Try asking the following questions: What happened? What went right? What went not so well and why? What can be learned? What are one or two things I can now do differently?
Anticipate and manage obstacles
As boxer Mike Tyson once said: “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” You need to be realistic about competing priorities and distractions bound to get in the way.
10. Identify and plan to manage points of choice, where other temptations may divert you from pursuing your goal. Points of choice may arise from within yourself (such as feeling tired, distracted or uninspired) or your surroundings (such as work pressures or family responsibilities). Plan ahead as to what you will do when these points of choice arise.
11. Remind yourself it’s OK to make mistakes. Repeating “error management training” mantras has been shown to improve learning and performance, particularly on complex tasks where people need to learn their way to a solution. Try these:
Errors are a natural part of the learning process. I have made an error. Great! That gives me something to learn from.
12. Keep building your commitment. Lose that and all bets are off! All the above steps will help. It can also help to share your goals and progress with others, but choose carefully. Share your journey with people you respect, whose opinion of you matters, and whom you know won’t be a wet blanket.
Bitcoin mining site manager Guo-hua checks an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) at ... [+] The Washington Post via Getty Images
The power demands and carbon emissions of bitcoin mining could undermine global efforts to combat climate change if stringent regulations are not placed upon the industry, a Chinese study has found. By 2024, mining of the cryptocurrency in China alone could use as much power as the entire nation of Italy uses in a year, with greenhouse gas emissions equalling those of the Czech Republic.
But rather than recommending increased taxation on bitcoin mining to curb emissions, or simply an outright ban on the practice, the paper, published today in the journal Nature, suggests that miners should be encouraged to shift their operations to regions that provide abundant low-carbon electricity.
The research is significant because China carries out at least 65% of the world’s bitcoin operations. Shouyang Wang, one of the report’s authors and chair professor at the Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, told Forbes.com:
“While everyone has focused on bitcoin’s great profitability, we want people to become more aware of its potential issues and start thinking about these questions: is this industry actually worth the associated environmental impact, and how can we make profitable bitcoin mining operation more sustainable in the future?”
Using simulation-based models, the researchers found that, short of any policy interventions, bitcoin mining in China will peak in 2024 consuming 296.59 terawatt hours of electricity—as much as a medium sized country—and generate 130.50 million metric tons of carbon emissions. The authors further note that this consumption and the resulting emissions could derail China’s efforts to decarbonize its own energy system.
“It is important to note that the adoption of this disruptive and promising technique without [taking into account] environmental concerns may pose a barrier to the worldwide effort on GHG emissions management in the near future,” Wang said, adding that the research team was “surprised by the energy consumption and carbon emission assessment results of bitcoin blockchain operation in China.”
But the solution to the challenge, the authors argue, is “moving away from the current punitive carbon tax policy to a site regulation policy”—in essence, ensuring that mining operations move to areas that guarantee high rates of renewable electricity. Under such a policy, they found, only 20% of bitcoin miners remained in coal-intensive energy regions, resulting in lower carbon emissions per dollar earned, compared to a higher taxation scenario.
Under the site regulation model, the researchers found bitcoin operations generated 100.61 million metric tons at peak, as opposed to 105.19 million tons under an additional taxation scenario. Wang said government regulation of the industry was needed, but that bitcoin miners would likely be amenable to his team’s proposed solution.
“Site regulation should be carried out by the government, placing limitations on bitcoin mining in certain regions that use coal-based heavy energy,” Wang explained. “That being said, we think that there are enough benefits to this policy which will incentivize the miners to move their operation willingly. For example, since energy prices in clean-energy regions of China are lower than that in heavy-energy regions, the miners can effectively lower their individual energy consumption cost, which would increase their profitability.”
That isn’t to say, however, that regulation is the only method by which China should be reducing the emissions impact from bitcoin mining. “The government should also focus on upgrading the power generation facilities in clean-energy regions to ensure a consistent energy generation,” Wang said. “That way, the miners would definitely have more incentives to move voluntarily.”
Crunching The Numbers
Bitcoin operates by using blockchain technology—publicly recorded peer-to-peer transfers on encrypted computer networks—which eliminates the need for centralized authorities or banks. Bitcoin miners use arrays of processors to determine results to algorithmic puzzles that verify transactions that are added to the blockchain, for which they are in turn rewarded in bitcoins.
With the value of a single bitcoin having risen from $1 in April 2011 to around $60,000 in April 2021, and with yesterday’s news that the value of the cryptocurrency market has exceeded $2 trillion for the first time, the financial incentives to mine bitcoin are obvious.
But there is a finite supply of bitcoins: they are limited to 21 million in total. To control the currency’s circulation, the supply of new bitcoins is halved every four years, which also halves the miners’ rewards. This has helped ignite fierce competition, attracting an increasing number of bitcoin miners to get into the race, utilizing ever more powerful processing arrays requiring more electricity.
This, the authors say, means that after 2024, bitcoin mining—at least in China—will no longer be cost-effective; the costs of mining the currency will begin to outweigh the rewards. “We have predicted through our model that bitcoin mining operations in China would start to decrease in 2025,” Wang said.
“Due to over-competitive and the reward-halving mechanism of bitcoin, many miners would leave China and move their operations elsewhere in hope to improve their profitability. The decrease in mining activities would lower the associated carbon emissions generated in China.”
So, in at least one sense, bitcoin is self-regulating. Or as Wang puts it, “this is the industry’s natural built-in way of phasing itself out.”
Silver Linings?
It has until recently proved difficult to determine the total emissions impact of bitcoin mining. Industry advocates have long claimed that miners tend to rely on low-carbon energy due to its relatively low cost, but those claims have been disputed.
Now, using more advanced modeling techniques, Chinese researchers have been able to more accurately estimate the energy uses of specific industry operations. According to the China Emissions Accounts and Datasets platform (CEAD), for example, bitcoin mining accounts for more than 5.4% of emissions from electricity generation in China.
In response, various policy solutions have been suggested, including heavier taxation of bitcoin mining operations. The new research suggests site regulation could be the preferable option. But did Wang think this could result in too many miners moving into areas with abundant renewables, gobbling up energy supply?
“There would be an influx of bitcoin miners into clean-energy regions,” he said. “However, we don’t think that this increase in bitcoin mining operations would place burdens on the local energy grid. The energy-generation infrastructures in the clean-energy regions of China are still being improved and developed … we think that increases in energy generation capacity would outpace the increase in bitcoin mining operations in these regions, which would reduce the potential burdens.”
Even so, with a forecast of 100 million tons of carbon emissions at the industry’s peak, would it not simply be better, in environmental terms, to ban the practice outright?
“We think that simply banning bitcoin mining altogether is not ideal,” Wang said. “Even if bitcoin mining is completely banned, its increasing profitability would drive miners to continue their activities through other measures, such as stealing electricity. That is why we are suggesting a push for moving the miners to clean renewable energy regions would be more ideal.”
Asked whether future cryptocurrency operations could potentially result in the same or similar energy demands as bitcoin, Wang offered a note of optimism.
“Cryptocurrency communities have become increasingly aware of the carbon emissions generated through mining activities,” he said. “As a result … we think the development of these new consensus algorithms would improve the energy efficiency of cryptocurrency mining activities, which would be beneficial for China’s sustainability efforts.”
While the research doesn’t claim drinking more coffee adds years to your life, it’s nevertheless an intriguing association that scientists are keen to investigate further. It’s also important to weigh the findings against previous studies linking brain shrinkage and an increased risk of dementia with a daily habit of six or more cups of coffee.
“In this large, observational study, ground, instant and decaffeinated coffee were associated with equivalent reductions in the incidence of cardiovascular disease and death from cardiovascular disease or any cause,” says electrophysiologist Peter Kistler, from the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Australia.
“The results suggest that mild to moderate intake of ground, instant and decaffeinated coffee should be considered part of a healthy lifestyle.”The UK Biobank is a large-scale database containing records on individuals’ genetics, health, and lifestyle. In this study, the sample provided an average of 12 and a half years’ worth of health and dietary information on 449,563 people with a median age of 58.
The participants were grouped according to their daily coffee consumption, and what type of coffee they usually drank – with just over 100,000 people reporting that they didn’t drink coffee at all. As part of the analysis, the researchers factored in the effects of age, sex, ethnicity, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, obstructive sleep apnoea, smoking status, and tea and alcohol consumption.
From there, Kistler and colleagues could compute differences in heart health outcomes and death from any cause for all coffee drinkers over the study time period, compared to those who didn’t drink coffee. Drinking instant, ground and even decaffeinated coffee were all associated with a lower likelihood of death. Those who drank two or three cups of coffee a day had better odds of living longer than those who didn’t drink any.
Researchers can only guess what might be behind the relationship. If it is the coffee itself, a wide variety of potential compounds could be responsible. “Caffeine is the most well-known constituent in coffee, but the beverage contains more than 100 biologically active components,” says Kistler.
“It is likely that the non-caffeinated compounds were responsible for the positive relationships observed between coffee drinking, cardiovascular disease and survival.” Digging deeper, the team found coffee consumption was also linked with the development of cardiovascular disease, with the lowest risk seen amongst those who consumed two to three cups a day.
There were slightly different findings for the risk of arrhythmia or an abnormal heart rhythm – here ground and instant coffee, but not decaffeinated, were linked to a lower likelihood of developing the condition. Once again, just a couple of cups each day seemed to be the sweet spot.
As a lot of previous research has shown, coffee is a complex substance that interacts with the body in a number of complex ways – ways that scientists are still trying to understand. That this study covered so many people over an extended period only adds weight to the link between coffee drinking and longevity.
However, there are some limitations to consider. The database records were predominantly Caucasian, making it harder to generalize the findings across a more ethnically diverse population. Coffee drinking was also self-reported rather than monitored, and the database doesn’t factor in changes in coffee consumption or coffee type over time.
For now, sip that morning brew guilt free – chances are it’s doing you some good. “Our findings indicate that drinking modest amounts of coffee of all types should not be discouraged but can be enjoyed as a heart healthy behavior,” says Kistler.
While past studies hinted that coffee might have a dark side, newer research suggests that it may actually have health benefits.
Why the reversal? It’s hard to look at just one aspect of diet and connect it to a health condition because so many other factors that could play a role. For example, early research on coffee didn’t always take into account that heavy coffee drinkers also tended to use tobacco and be sedentary.
When newer studies adjusted for such factors, they found a possible association between coffee and decreased mortality. Coffee may offer some protection against:
Parkinson’s disease
Type 2 diabetes
Liver disease, including liver cancer
Heart attack and stroke
Coffee still has potential risks, mostly due to its high caffeine content. For example, it can temporarily raise blood pressure. Women who are pregnant, trying to become pregnant or breastfeeding need to be cautious about caffeine. High intake of boiled, unfiltered coffee has been associated with mild increase in cholesterol levels.
The bottom line? Your coffee habit is probably fine and may even have some benefits. But if you have side effects from coffee, such as heartburn, nervousness or insomnia, consider cutting back.
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