"Coffee itself might not have anything to do with it; rather, coffee follows a certain lifestyle which is healthier than that of non-drinkers." I think it's mu

"Coffee itself might not have anything to do with it; rather, coffee follows a certain lifestyle which is healthier than that of non-drinkers." I think it's much simpler than even that. Health fads and science results come and go, but over thousands of years humans develop (just a few) heuristics based on subtle observations along the way. One of the best of those heuristics is "an apple a day keeps the doctor away". Bear with me here... Is it flavonoids ? Special anti-oxidants ? Some weird apple chemical that we can isolate and realize all of our dashed resveratrol hopes with ? No. An apple a day keeps the doctor away because it keeps your bowels moving, all else being equal. That's it. Just a big, boring macro effect on your body and your bodies primary consumption/waste pathway. I suspect the same is true with coffee. Special secret antioxidants ? Natures hidden chemical compounds we can distill into a pill ? No ... coffee is just a good laxative[1] and if you're having 2-3 cups of coffee a day you're (all else being equal) moving waste along (relatively) more efficiently. Which is great. Nothing to be sneezed at - just like the apples - but also nothing exotic or confounding. [1] http://www.onemedical.com/blog/live-well/why-coffee-makes-me-poop/ http://www.onemedical.com/blog/live-well/why-coffee-makes-me...