ABSTRACT

Objectives:
The association between caffeine consumption and mortality in different weight statuses is unclear. This study aimed to explore the effects of caffeine consumption on mortality in different weight statuses.

Methods:
Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2014) was used in this study. We used multivariable Cox proportional hazards models with appropriate sampling weight to assess the association of caffeine intake with mortality in different weight statuses.

Results:
A total of 37 211 participants were included in our study. Multivariate-adjusted analyses showed that moderate caffeine consumption was associated with decreased all-cause mortality in total participants (hazard ratio: 0.61; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.42-0.89). In subsequent analyses, a significant association was found between moderate caffeine consumption and all-cause mortality in overweight persons, but this association was not found among other weight groups. In comparison with nonconsumers, the pooled multivariate hazard ratios for all-cause mortality in overweight persons were 0.75 (95% CI, 0.39-1.43) for those who had low caffeine consumption (<100 mg/d), 0.44 (95% CI, 0.22-0.89) for moderate caffeine consumption (100-<200 mg/d), and 0.53 (95% CI, 0.27-1.03) for high caffeine consumption (≥200 mg/d). No associations were found between caffeine intake and cardiovascular and cancer mortality.

Conclusions:
The present study suggests that moderate caffeine intake is associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality in a large study of U.S. adults, especially among those who are overweight. Overweight individuals were more likely to benefit from moderate caffeine intake.