Two new studies continue to prove why coffee is a good idea (most days and in reasonable moderation.)

Research noted this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine journal showed significant correlation between coffee and being in good health. Two studies further suggested the more coffee you drink, the more your risk of dying from an illness such heart disease - the number one killer of both men and women. Both decaf and caffeinated coffee had the same effect on the studies subjects.

One of the studies examined results from 185,000 people across multiple ethnicities include African Americans, Japanese Americans, Native Hawaiians, Latinos and caucasians. Their coffee consumption patterns were measured over a 16-year period layered on top of if they smoked or were currently living with an illness.

Conclusions included that greater consumption of coffee was linked to lower risk of death in all populations except Native Hawaiians, which showed no notable difference.

Those subjects that consumed 2-4 cups per day had an 18% lower risk of dying from diseases like heart disease, stroke and cancer versus those who didn’t consume the beverage.

The second study examined 520,000 people in 10 European countries over the same time period. Researchers found that coffee consumption lowered the risk for mortality, especially from digestive and circulatory diseases.

The first study did define a cup of coffee as 8 ounces but didn’t explicitly say what type of coffee it was or what was in it. Obviously drinking coffee with excessive amounts of cream and sugar can have nutritional impact but this was not identified in the study.

In most other studies regarding coffee’s health benefits, it was noted that coffee when consumed black was where the most health benefits came about.

Researchers still tout that it’s too soon to recommend endless amounts of coffee as naturally it’s a diuretic and can have an impact on energy levels being volatile but still worth considering and following this body of research as findings get consistently built upon.