The findings, published in the European Journal of Nutrition, stem from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA), which analyzed data from 1,161 community-dwelling adults aged 55 and older and evaluated both current and retrospective coffee consumption.
“The health benefits associated with coffee consumption are often attributed to the presence of various bioactive compounds in coffee, such as caffeine and polyphenols, which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties,” wrote the researchers from the Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute. “Considering the involvement of inflammation and neuroendocrine dysregulation in the pathophysiology of frailty, coffee consumption may also be linked to a lower risk of frailty.”
The study was funded by the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee (ISIC), a nonprofit organization supported by major coffee companies including illycaffè, JDE Peet’s, Lavazza, Paulig and Tchibo.
The more coffee the better?
Participants in the study were categorized into five groups based on habitual coffee consumption, ranging from no coffee to more than six cups per day.
Frailty status was determined using the Fried frailty phenotype, which defines frailty as a clinical syndrome characterized by the presence of three or more of the following criteria: weight loss, weakness, exhaustion, slow gait speed and low physical activity.
“Habitual coffee consumption of > 4–6 and > 6 cups/day was associated with lower odds of frailty compared with consumption of > 0–2 cups/day,” the researchers reported. “Similar but statistically non-significant associations were found for coffee consumption during midlife and between habitual coffee consumption and the 3- and 7-year incidence of frailty, except for a statistically significant lower hazard of frailty after 7 years for the consumption of > 2–4 cups/day compared to > 0–2 cups/day.”
No associations were found between coffee consumption and pre-frailty, except for lower odds for those who consumed two to four cups a day compared to two cups a day or less.
Hold the caffeine?
As secondary analysis, the researchers investigated whether caffeine moderates the association between coffee consumption and frailty. They noted that previous studies have produced mixed results, which could be attributed to differences in study populations and coffee preparation methods across cultures.
“Stratification of the results by type of coffee (decaffeinated vs. caffeinated) showed that a higher consumption of decaffeinated coffee was associated with a lower hazard of pre-frailty or frailty after three years, while higher consumption of caffeinated coffee was not associated with pre-frailty or frailty incidence,” according to the findings from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam cohort.
While the exact mechanisms remain unclear, the study suggested that it may be coffee’s high antioxidant content that reduces inflammation and oxidative stress, both linked to frailty.
Previous research also suggests that coffee could slow the progression of muscle wasting, and animal models have shown improved muscle weight and grip strength with coffee intake, findings that align with human data indicating lower odds of weight loss and weakness among higher coffee consumers. Additionally, polyphenols in coffee may enhance muscle health by supporting cellular processes like autophagy and boosting insulin sensitivity.
The researchers called for future studies to investigate possible underlying mechanisms by which coffee and/or coffee type might influence frailty development.
Source: European Journal of Nutrition. doi: 10.1007/s00394-025-03683-0. “Habitual coffee consumption and risk of frailty in later life: the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA)”. Authors: Mette van der Linden et al.