There's more to your morning coffee that getting your started for the day

Of course it is. As David Letterman once said, "if it wasn't for the coffee, I'd have no identifiable personality whatsoever."

And as Hugh Jackman once said: "To me, the smell of fresh-made coffee is one of the greatest inventions." They'd both be happy to hear there's new scientific evidence backing the health benefits of your daily liquid life support.

I'll order another macchiato while you tell me more.

A new UK Biobank study just announced its findings: three cups of ground coffee a day reduces your risk of death.

No surprises there. Without my three cups, I'm far more vulnerable to potentially fatal pursuits: wandering into traffic, falling off my bike or forgetting who I am.

We're talking more about the medical perspective here. The study looked at coffee's links to cardiovascular health, stroke risk and general mortality rate.

It's the largest study to date on coffee's effects on heart health, with almost half a million participants over 11 years.

So what's the good news?

The study revealed that moderate coffee drinkers (up to three cups a day), had a 12 percent less risk of overall mortality.

They were 17 and 21 per cent less likely than non-coffee drinkers to die of heart disease or stroke respectively. Over the study period, 3.4 per cent of moderate coffee drinkers died, compared to 3.7 percent of coffee abstainers and four percent of those drinking higher amounts of caffeine.

The benefits remained the same for those drinking decaf.

So it's not just about the caffeine?

It seems there's more to your java than the jolt. Other studies have credited coffee's medicinal value to its plant-based polyphenols and their antioxidant properties - which could be why it's also linked to various other health gains including reduced dementia risk, better liver health and lower rate of depression.

Any downsides?

Only if you prefer instant. The new study found the benefits come from drinking ground coffee, not instant varieties.

Oh happy day! Not only is my favourite soft beverage helping my health - it needs to be administered by a professional, too. That hot barista at the coffee cart now has legit therapeutic value.

I'm still one cup short of my three. Let's go get medicated.