According to all the recent health studies made about coffee and given the number of cups I drink each day, I’m probably going to be around another 75 years. Maybe even longer.

All because I’ve spent the last 45 years of my life making sure that I had the medicinal miracle of the coffee bean running through my veins like a Kenyan runner.

I’m sharing this as an “I told you so” to those family, friends and colleagues over the years who were well-meaning but unfortunately misguided in their concern that my copious coffee consumption of eight to 10 cups a day would damage my heart, cause stomach ulcers, insomnia, stroke, high cholesterol, muscle tremors, stunt my growth and might prevent me from getting pregnant.

Turns out the java juice does just the opposite. Don’t think it’s had any effect on that last part.

A recent article in the New York Times noted a study in JAMA Internal Medicine that examined the coffee habits of nearly 500,000 people in the U.K. and found that it didn’t matter if they drank one cup or chain-drank eight — regular or decaf — they were linked to a lower risk of death from all causes.

“The evidence is pretty consistent that coffee is associated with a lower risk of mortality,” said Erikka Loftfield, a research fellow at the National Cancer Institute who has studied the beverage and was quoted in the story.

An American Chemical Society study found that people who drink four or more cups of coffee a day have a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. In addition, experts say some of the strongest protective effects may be with Parkinson’s disease, and liver conditions such as cirrhosis, liver cancer and chronic liver disease.

I’m not talking about those 860-calorie creamy frozen coconut caramel coffee desserts with 17 grams of saturated fat, and 129 grams of total sugars. I mean coffee.

Here are some more positives:

• Study done by the National Institute of Health finds that those who drink four or more cups of coffee were about 10 percent less likely to be depressed than those who had never touched the java.

• Researchers from the University of South Florida and the University of Miami found that moderate coffee consumption can appreciably reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s or delay its onset.

• Research from the Harvard School of Public Health suggests that men who drink coffee may be at a lower risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer. Researchers also found ties between regular coffee drinking and lower rates of liver, colon, breast and rectal cancers.

• Researchers in the Nurses’ Health Study found a positive correlation between long-term coffee consumption and a decreased risk for gout.

• Johns Hopkins University researchers found that caffeine has a positive effect on long-term memory. Their research, published by the journal Nature Neuroscience, shows that caffeine enhances certain memories, at least up to 24 hours after it is consumed.

Does it have to be brewed coffee? What if you use coffee pods? Researchers believe they hold the same benefits as drip coffee.

Exercise is good. So is watching what you eat. But if you really want to stay healthy and live a long life, take it from Dr. Barry and savor those sips. Have a 10th cup.

Still skeptical that extremely high doses of caffeine can be dangerous?

I’ll leave the last word with my colleague, Dr. Rob van Dam, a professor of Public Health at National University of Singapore.

“You don’t see a lot of people going into the emergency room because they accidentally drank too much coffee.”

Barrylewisscdemocrat.com