Research conducted over 20 years on 12,000 participants between 45-74 years showed that those who drank more caffeine via tea or coffee experienced significantly improved physical function as they aged. This information was gleaned from individuals aged 45-74 years that were followed up on.

Between 1993 and 1998, individuals were initially interviewed using a structured questionnaire at midlife age of 53 years on average between 1993 and 1998.

At these interviews, individuals were queried on their caffeine consumption habits – such as soft drinks, tea and coffee consumption habits as well as portion size and frequency of food such as chocolate containing caffeine – during interviews.

Information was also provided regarding sleep duration, physical activities, dietary habits, height and weight measurements, medical histories as well as sociodemographic features.

At each interview conducted from 2006 to 2010, individuals were asked to document their weight as well as other relevant information. By comparison, during follow-up interviews conducted between 2014 and 2017 when individuals averaged age 73 years on average were asked again to document their weight and provide more specific responses such as: “Are You Full of Energy?”

Handgrip strength was evaluated, along with time it took to complete a timed up-and-go (TUG) test. Physical frailty was defined as having two of four criteria, including 1. Weight Loss defined as over 10% between visits 2 and 3, Exhaustion as yes answers and Slowness defined as quintile slowest test times on TUG test (with 2 or more factors present).
4. Weakness can be determined by measuring the weakest handgrip strength quintile.

Tea and coffee were the two primary sources of caffeine intake among these participants, accounting for 12% and 84% respectively of total consumption. Of those participating, 68.5% consumed coffee daily; 52.9% had one cup daily, 42.2% two to three cups daily and 4.9% consumed four or more cups on an ongoing basis.

Individuals were then divided into four groups according to their coffee consumption: non-drinkers, daily cup drinkers (1 cup per day), two to three daily cup drinkers, and those consuming four or more daily cups per day.

Tea consumers were classified into four categories according to their frequency of tea drinking: never, at least once a month or week and daily drinkers.

Results revealed that drinking coffee, green, or black tea during midlife was independently associated with an overall reduced chance of physical frailty later on. People who consumed four or more daily cups of coffee saw an even lower risk than individuals who didn’t regularly partake in such beverages.

Studies conducted on individuals who regularly consumed green or black tea had significantly lower risks of physical frailty compared with non-tea drinkers.

Caffeine consumption and risk of physical frailty were evaluated further. A higher caffeine consumption was linked with reduced physical frailty risks regardless of source of caffeine consumption.

Of the four physical frailty factors, associations were stronger between TUG and handgrip strength tests and self-reported exhaustion and weight loss measures than between any other measure.

Studies involving mice have demonstrated that caffeine increases muscle cell proliferation and increases their weight, both contributing to increased muscularity.

Tea and coffee both contain bioactive polyphenols with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that have been linked to reduced risk for neurodegenerative diseases, obesity, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.

Further scientific investigations must take place to ascertain the mechanisms underlying this association between tea/coffee consumption and human physical function.

According to this research, caffeinated beverages could help decrease your risk of physical frailty as you age.