(NewsNation) — Coffee consumption is believed to benefit health, and new research shows it may lower the risk of death among sedentary drinkers compared to those who sit for prolonged periods of time and don’t drink coffee.

The study, published in the journal BMC Public Health, aimed to assess the association between daily sitting time and coffee intake on all-cause and cardiovascular disease deaths among U.S. adults.

Researchers analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) conducted between 2007 and 2018, including 10,639 adults. The NHANES survey, which has been collected every two years since 1999, measures the health and nutrition status of Americans.

Analysis showed that noncoffee drinkers sitting for at least six hours per day were nearly 1.6 times more likely to die of all causes compared to coffee drinkers who sat for less than 6 hours daily.

Adults who were sedentary for six hours or more daily were more likely to be white, non-Hispanic, and have an education beyond high school. They also had a larger waist circumference, abdominal obesity and a higher body mass index.

Coffee drinkers were more likely to be non-Hispanic, white, older, and educated beyond high school. Only 52% of Americans drink coffee, and 48% of adults reported sitting for at least six hours daily. Meanwhile, 23% of Americans reported sitting for six hours or more daily and not drinking coffee.

Over a 13-year follow-up, there were 945 fatalities among research participants, with 284 of these deaths due to cardiovascular disease.

The findings suggest that the relationship between sitting time and increased death risk was significant only for adults who did not consume coffee, not among coffee drinkers.

Researchers note that “given that coffee is a complex compound, further research is needed to explore this miracle compound.”