Coffee consumption linked to lower risk of COVID-19 infection

Regular coffee consumption of at least one cup daily was associated with a lower risk of COVID-19 infection, according to a study.

Researchers with Northwestern University published findings in the Nutrients journal, stemming from an analysis of nearly 40,000 participants in the U.K. Biobank. The team studied participants’ dietary habits from 2006 to 2010 and hypothesized the subsequent risk of coronavirus infection in 2020. Researchers specifically looked at participants’ consumption of coffee, tea, processed meat, red meat, fruit, vegetables and oily fish. After adjusting for factors like race, age, sex and other factors like physical activity, BMI level and history of certain medical conditions, researchers found “habitual consumption of 1 or more cups of coffee per day was associated with about a 10% decrease in risk of COVID-19 compared to less than 1 cup/day.”