Coffee Consumption and Risk of Frailty Later in Life
The Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA).
This study, published in the European Journal of Nutrition (2025), investigates the relationship between habitual and midlife coffee consumption and the risk of frailty in older adults from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA).
Key Points
Aim
The study aimed to examine whether coffee consumption, both current habitual intake and retrospectively assessed midlife intake (ages 40–65), is associated with the prevalence and incidence of frailty and pre-frailty in community-dwelling older adults aged 55 years and older.
Methods
Population: 1161 older adults from LASA, a large ongoing cohort study in the Netherlands.
Coffee consumption: Assessed via self-administered questionnaires and food frequency questionnaires, categorised into five groups (no coffee, >0–2, >2–4, >4–6, >6 cups/day).
Frailty assessment: Used Fried’s five-component frailty phenotype (weight loss, weakness, exhaustion, slow gait speed, low physical activity). Participants were classified as robust, pre-frail, or frail.
Statistical analyses: Generalised estimating equations, Cox proportional hazards models, and logistic regression were used to analyse associations between coffee intake and frailty prevalence and incidence over 3- and 7-year follow-ups.
Covariates: Adjusted for factors including age, sex, BMI, chronic diseases, depressive symptoms, cognitive function, and sleep duration.
Results
Higher habitual coffee consumption (>4–6 cups/day and >6 cups/day) was significantly associated with lower odds of frailty compared to low consumption (>0–2 cups/day), with odds ratios around 0.36–0.37, indicating about a 63–64% reduction in frailty odds.
Midlife coffee consumption showed similar but statistically non-significant trends toward lower frailty risk.
A significantly lower hazard of frailty after 7 years was found for those consuming >2–4 cups/day compared to >0–2 cups/day (HR 0.41), indicating a 59% reduced risk.
No consistent associations were found between coffee consumption and pre-frailty, except for modestly lower odds in the >2–4 cups/day group.
Secondary analyses suggested no clear difference based on caffeinated versus decaffeinated coffee.
The study highlights the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of coffee’s bioactive compounds as potential mechanisms linking coffee consumption to reduced frailty risk.
Related
Practical Takeaways
Habitual consumption of moderate to high amounts of coffee (around 4 to 6 cups per day) may be linked to a substantially lower risk of frailty in older adults.
Coffee’s bioactive compounds might help protect against physiological decline related to frailty, possibly through reducing inflammation and oxidative stress.
While the study is observational and cannot prove causation, incorporating coffee into a balanced diet might contribute to healthy aging and maintenance of physical function.
Further research is needed to confirm these findings and clarify how coffee influences frailty development.
Summary
This well-conducted longitudinal study from the LASA cohort provides evidence that higher habitual coffee consumption is associated with lower odds and incidence of frailty in older adults. The findings support coffee as a potentially beneficial dietary component for healthy aging, possibly due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. However, the relationship with pre-frailty is less clear, and midlife consumption showed weaker associations. These insights encourage further exploration of coffee’s role in aging and frailty prevention.
This study adds to the growing body of literature suggesting that coffee consumption may confer protective health benefits beyond its well-known effects, particularly in the context of aging and frailty risk
Reference
van der Linden, M., Wijnhoven, H.A., Schaap, L.A. et al. Habitual coffee consumption and risk of frailty in later life: the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA). Eur J Nutr 64, 164 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-025-03683-0