News and Views

The key to a long life could be simpler than thought - may be even in our morning cup of coffee. A cup of boiled Greek coffee to be exact - could improve cardiovascular health and increase longevity. The scientists were intrigued to find out how these island inhabitants found the secret to a longer life. Only 0.1 per cent of Europeans live to be older than 90 years - but on the island of Ikaria that number is 1 per cent. Gerasimos Siasos, a medical doctor and professor at the University of Athens Medical School, and his colleagues wanted to explore the elderly population's coffee drinking and its effect on their health. Around 142 Ikarians (71 women and 71 men) who were over the age of 65 years and had lived on the island all their lives were recruited. Health check data (for diabetes, high blood pressure) and questionnaires to measure the participants' lifestyles, coffee drinking, medical health and tested their endothelial function were used for data collection. All kinds of coffee consumed by the participants were researched. Surprisingly over 87 per cent of those drank boiled, Greek coffee every day.