The notion that drinking coffee regularly can make a person live longer. A 14-year study conducted by the National Institutes of Health and AARP found that coffee drinkers actually lived longer by as much as 10 to 15 percent compared to people who didn't drink coffee. The study, involving some 400,000 people, found that men who drank at least six cups of coffee a day had a 10 percent lower chance of dying over the 14-year period. For women it was even lower, 15 percent lower than non-coffee drinkers. The most widely studied ingredient — caffeine — didn't play a role in the study's results.

The results contradicted previous studies concerning coffee consumption as caffeine was linked to increased level of bad cholesterol and blood pressure at least in the short-term, and those in turn could raise the risk of heart disease. Scientists also learned that cancer rates were higher among coffee drinkers for some unknown reasons.