Key TakeawaysA new study has found that drinking coffee may help you maintain muscle mass as you age.However, experts stressed that we don’t have evidence suggesting coffee definitely improves muscle mass—only that there’s an association between coffee consumption and higher muscle mass.Experts said maintaining healthy muscle mass is important because it reduces the likelihood of falls in older adults.

Key Takeaways

A new study has found that drinking coffee may help you maintain muscle mass as you age.However, experts stressed that we don’t have evidence suggesting coffee definitely improves muscle mass—only that there’s an association between coffee consumption and higher muscle mass.Experts said maintaining healthy muscle mass is important because it reduces the likelihood of falls in older adults.

New research has found that drinking coffee may help you avoid losing muscle mass as you age.

The new study, published inFrontiers in Nutrition, suggests that drinking coffee may help preventsarcopenia, a musculoskeletal disease that compromises strength, muscle mass, and performance in the process of aging.

People who drank coffee every day had an 11%-13% higher muscle mass, while decaffeinated coffee showed no significant association.

However, this association didn’t hold true for everyone in the study. The relationship between coffee consumption and higher muscle mass “disappeared” in people with a body mass index (BMI) over 30, said,Luke Kim, MD, MEd, a geriatrician at Cleveland Clinic who was unaffiliated with the study.

For the study, researchers relied on health data from over 8,300 U.S. adults collected from 2011 to 2018. The average age of the participants was about 40, and slightly over half were female.

Why Coffee Can Have the Opposite Effect and Make You Sleepy

Why May Coffee Protect Muscle Mass?

The study didn’t explain why coffee consumption may be associated with higher muscle mass, saidDana Hunnes, PhD, MPH, RD, clinical inpatient dietitian at UCLA Health.

However, the anti-inflammatory properties of caffeine could be part of the reason.

“Coffee contains multiple anti-inflammatory compounds in it and it is known that inflammation is associated with decreased muscle mass,” Hunnes told Verywell.

If drinking coffee can lower inflammation in the body, it can also lower “catabolic pathways”—which happen when the body “eats its own muscle,” Hunnes said.

Coffee may also help maintain autophagy, a process that helps “recycle” aging cells, saidHeidi Skolnik, MS, CDN, FACSM, a sports nutritionist and exercise physiologist at the Women’s Sports Medicine Center at the Hospital for Special Surgery.

TikTok Says Drinking Coffee on an Empty Stomach Is Bad for You. What Do Experts Think?

Should You Drink Coffee Consistently?

Drinking coffee alone cannot prevent sarcopenia, Hunnes said. It’s also unclear how much coffee you need to drink to see the potential protective benefits.

“This study seemed to indicate that any caffeinated coffee intake offered benefits over zero coffee intake, with more benefit with more coffee,” Hunnes added.

She added that it’s likely that people have to drink coffee for years to see real health benefits. “However, it’s probably never too late to start,” she said.

While coffee may not be the miracle solution to muscle mass loss, it’s important to prioritize exercise and a healthy diet as you age since these are known to help protect the musculoskeletal system.

“It’s important to maintain muscle mass with age because muscle allows us to maintain balance, stay mobile and active, [and] it helps us digest and absorb our food,” Hunnes said.

What This Means For YouAccording to a new study, drinking coffee may lead to higher muscle mass as you age, but it’s unclear why. Maintaining healthy muscle mass may decrease your chances of sustaining injuries from falls as you grow older and may keep you mobile for longer.

What This Means For You

According to a new study, drinking coffee may lead to higher muscle mass as you age, but it’s unclear why. Maintaining healthy muscle mass may decrease your chances of sustaining injuries from falls as you grow older and may keep you mobile for longer.

1 SourceVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Yin H, Zhu W, Guo L, Li W, Liang M.Association between coffee intake and skeletal muscle mass among U.S. adults: a population-based study.Front Nutr. 2024;11:1390309. doi:10.3389/fnut.2024.1390309

1 Source

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Yin H, Zhu W, Guo L, Li W, Liang M.Association between coffee intake and skeletal muscle mass among U.S. adults: a population-based study.Front Nutr. 2024;11:1390309. doi:10.3389/fnut.2024.1390309

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Yin H, Zhu W, Guo L, Li W, Liang M.Association between coffee intake and skeletal muscle mass among U.S. adults: a population-based study.Front Nutr. 2024;11:1390309. doi:10.3389/fnut.2024.1390309

Meet Our Medical Expert Board

Share Feedback

Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit

Was this page helpful?

Thanks for your feedback!

What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit

What is your feedback?