JAKARTA (JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Those who need that bittersweet daily dose of coffee to start their day will feel uplifted after reading about a new study conducted by Stanford University's School of Medicine on the benefits that can be reaped from regular caffeine consumption.

Published on Stanford Medicine News Center on Monday (Jan 23), the study found a link between coffee drinkers and a lower risk of inflammation-related diseases.

Leading author David Furman, PhD explains in a release that more than 90 per cent of all non-communicable diseases of aging, such as "cancers, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis and even depression", are associated with chronic inflammation. "It's also well-known that caffeine intake is associated with longevity," he said. "Many studies have shown this association. We've found a possible reason for why this may be so."

The study examined blood samples of 100 people and concluded that older people with lower levels of inflammation were all regular coffee drinkers. The metabolic substances within caffeine is proven to counter the actions of nucleic-acid metabolites-the molecules that form our genes-which circulate the blood and can trigger this inflammatory process.

Contributing researcher Mark Davis, PhD stated, "that something many people drink - and actually like to drink - might have a direct benefit, came as a surprise to us," adding that the study did not demonstrate a causal link.

"We didn't give some of the mice coffee and the others decaf. What we've shown is a correlation between caffeine consumption and longevity. And we've shown more rigorously, in laboratory tests, a very plausible mechanism for why this might be so."