Filtered coffee links to slower biological aging while instant coffee shows the opposite

By Tarun Sai LomteReviewed by Susha Cheriyedath, M.Sc.Jul 20 2026

New findings suggest that how coffee is prepared could matter as much as how much people drink, with filtered and instant coffee showing sharply different associations with biological aging.

Study: Discrepancies between instant and filtered coffee in biological aging: evidence from the UK Biobank. Image Credit: Rabizo Anatolii / Shutterstock

In a recent study published in npj Science of Food, researchers evaluated cross-sectional associations between coffee consumption and biological aging.

Aging is a complex process characterized by a gradual decrease in function. Given the unprecedented rate of population aging worldwide, identifying approaches that delay biological aging remains a crucial challenge. Diet is among the factors that influence biological aging. In particular, coffee, one of the most consumed beverages, has been investigated for its health risks and benefits.

Many studies have assessed the associations between coffee intake and chronic diseases. However, the association between coffee consumption and biological aging remains understudied, with only a few studies yielding inconsistent findings. Moreover, available studies have not accounted for the different coffee brewing types and diverse aging measures.

About the Study

In the present study, researchers investigated the association between coffee brewing types and biological aging measures. They analyzed data from the United Kingdom Biobank (UKB). UKB subjects with missing data on diet, covariates, and aging measures, as well as those who completed fewer than three dietary recalls, were excluded. The food frequency questionnaire was used to determine total coffee consumption. Repeated 24-hour dietary recalls collected information on coffee types, including filtered, instant, and other types, with the average intake used for participants who completed multiple recalls.

Three measures of biological aging were assessed: relative leukocyte telomere length (rLTL), PhenoAge Acceleration (PhenoAge Accel), and Klemera-Doubal Method Biological Age Acceleration (KDM-BA Accel). rLTL, a biomarker of cellular aging, was assessed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction to estimate the telomere repeat copy number-to-single-copy gene copy number ratio.

PhenoAge Accel and KDM-BA Accel quantified biological age based on biochemical and clinical parameters. The following covariates were included: age, race or ethnicity, sex, education, geographic region, Townsend deprivation index, alcohol intake, smoking status, body mass index (BMI), physical activity, sugar, artificial sweetener or milk added to coffee, decaffeinated coffee consumption, and the presence of diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, or hypertension.

Multivariable linear regression was used to examine associations between coffee intake and aging measures while adjusting for covariates. Subgroup analyses were performed based on age, BMI, sex, drinking status, and smoking status. Further, a two-stage linear regression was used to perform mediation analysis, and sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the stability of the results.

Findings

In total, 49,414 UKB participants, with an average age of 56.4 years, were included. About 44.3% of subjects were female, 91% were from England, and 65% had a history of hypertension. On average, participants consumed 0.7, 1.5, and 0.03 cups of filtered coffee, instant coffee, and other types of coffee daily. Further, 23% of participants reported consuming decaffeinated coffee, while 33% reported drinking coffee with milk.

Compared with non-consumers, instant coffee intake showed significant overall trends toward increased PhenoAge Accel and KDM-BA Accel, but lower rLTL, consistent with accelerated biological aging, although not every intake category differed significantly from non-consumption. By contrast, consuming filtered coffee showed significant overall trends toward decreased PhenoAge Accel and KDM-BA Accel, but higher rLTL, consistent with slower aging, although the highest-intake group did not have significantly higher rLTL. Meanwhile, no significant trends were observed for other types of coffee. The authors noted that most instant-coffee effect estimates corresponded to approximately 0.1 to 0.2 years of age acceleration and were of marginal clinical significance at the individual level.

Subgroup analyses showed that among participants consuming more than three cups of instant coffee per day, males, people aged ≥ 60 years, and current smokers had higher KDM-BA Accel than non-consumers. Higher PhenoAge Accel was observed among current smokers and individuals with BMI < 30 kg/m². By contrast, males who consumed more than three cups of filtered coffee every day had reduced KDM-BA Accel.

Sensitivity analyses showed that the findings remained materially unchanged across multiple analyses, including after excluding participants with cardiovascular disease, cancer, or diabetes, and those who consumed coffee with sugar, artificial sweetener, milk, or decaffeinated coffee. However, these analyses could not eliminate residual confounding. Mediation analysis showed that cystatin C and basal metabolic rate (BMR) statistically mediated 14.2% and 16.7% of the association between filtered coffee intake and KDM-BA Accel, respectively. BMR also mediated 2.9% of the association of filtered coffee intake with PhenoAge Accel, while cystatin C separately mediated 18.0%.

Meanwhile, glycoprotein acetylation (GlycA) mediated 24.6% and 34.6% of the associations of instant coffee consumption with PhenoAge Accel and KDM-BA Accel, respectively. It also mediated 23.4% and 28.7% of the associations of filtered coffee intake with PhenoAge Accel and KDM-BA Accel, respectively. The associations between filtered or instant coffee intake and rLTL were not mediated by cystatin C, BMR, or GlycA.

Conclusions

In summary, filtered coffee intake was associated with lower biological age-acceleration scores and generally longer rLTL, whereas instant coffee consumption was associated with higher age-acceleration scores and shorter rLTL. Because the analysis was cross-sectional, it could not establish that either coffee type caused changes in biological aging. Self-reported coffee intake, possible residual confounding, the predominantly White study population, and the absence of longitudinal aging or clinical outcomes also limit interpretation. GlycA, BMR, and cystatin C were identified as potential statistical mediators of the associations with PhenoAge Accel and KDM-BA Accel, but not with rLTL. Overall, the findings suggest that filtered coffee was associated with a more favorable biological-aging biomarker profile than instant coffee, but prospective and intervention studies are needed before the results can inform dietary guidelines.