Long-term coffee drinking does not appear to increase a person’s risk of early death and may cut a person’s chances of dying from heart disease, according to a study.

Previous studies have given a mixed picture of health effects from coffee, finding a variety of benefits and some drawbacks from the popular drink. The new study published that looked at people who drank caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee. Researchers led by Esther Lopez-Garcia of Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in Spain followed 84,214 US women form 1980 to 2004 and 41,736 US men form 1986 to 2004.

They found that regular coffee drinking up to six cups a day was not associated with increased deaths among the study’s middle aged participants. In fact, the coffee drinkers, particularly the women, experienced a small decline in death rates from heart disease. The study found no association between coffee consumption and cancer deaths.

There has been a debate among scientists about the health effects of drinking coffee, which typically contains the stimulant caffeine and a number of other important compounds. The people who took part in the research completed questionnaires on how frequently they drank coffee, other diet habits, smoking and medical conditions. The researchers then studied the mortality risk over the period of the study among people with different coffee drinking habits.