India, Dec. 8 -- New research conducted by King's College London finds that coffee consumption within the NHS-recommended limit is linked to longer telomere lengths - a marker of biological ageing - among people with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

The effect is comparable to roughly five years younger biological age, reads the King's College London website.

Telomeres are structures that protect DNA. As people get older, their telomeres shorten as part of the natural human ageing process. This process has been shown to be accelerated among people with severe mental illness, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, who have an average life expectancy 15 years shorter than the general population.

Previous research shows that coffe...