Coffee drinkers more likely to live longer — and study says it’s even sweeter news for sugar users

Scientists in China looking through lifestyle data recorded in the United Kingdom agreed with previous findings that coffee drinkers live longer than their non-coffee-drinking counterparts. 

However, it gets sweeter: Those who added a single spoonful of sugar to their joe enjoyed even less of a risk of death than those who skipped the spoon. 

It boiled down to: unsweetened coffee drinkers had a 21% reduced risk of death statistically, compared to the 31% enjoyed by those who like things a little sweeter. 

That said, don’t add sugar as a habit if you don’t already use it in your coffee, the scientists told the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. Also, an important thing to note: drinking coffee alone won’t extend your life, sweet or not.

In other words, they couldn’t prove that the coffee drinkers who had a reduced risk of death only had their mugs of mud to thank for their longevity.