Can Filter Coffee Help with Healthy Aging?

Filter coffee is often noticeably more enjoyable than instant coffee. Now, researchers have identified another potential advantage beyond taste.

Scientists at Chongqing Medical University examined data from nearly 50,000 people in the UK Biobank. They compared how filter and instant coffee related to indicators of biological aging.

Across a series of analyses, the same pattern kept appearing. People who drank instant coffee had a higher biological-age measure, KDM-BA Accel, than those who preferred filter coffee. For instant coffee drinkers, greater consumption was linked to a higher score; with filter coffee, higher consumption was linked to a lower score.

The researchers saw similar results when looking at other related markers. Instant coffee showed a stronger association with accelerated aging, whereas filter coffee was associated with slower aging.

This is not a reason to eliminate instant coffee entirely. Still, for people thinking about their health, the findings are an encouraging reason to favor filtered brewing methods more often.

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41538-026-00988-0