Regular coffee drinkers, take note. A new U.S. study has found that drinking more than 28 cups of coffee a week or four cups a day significantly increases the risk of death for both men and women under the age of 55. The University of South Carolina reported in a new issue of the Mayo Clinic Journal that they analyzed more than 40,000 respondents who participated in a lifestyle survey between 1971 and 2002, and found that drinking 28 cups of coffee a week for men under the age of 55 would lead to a 56 percent increase in their risk of death, while the risk of death for women under the age of 55 doubled. However, the study did not find that drinking too much coffee had an adverse effect on people over 55. The study defined a cup of coffee as 6 to 8 ounces (about 180 to 240 milliliters). Study co-author Sui Xuemei, an assistant professor at the University of South Carolina, explained to Xinhua that there has been a heated debate in the medical community about the effects of caffeine on the human body, with some reports suggesting that caffeine has toxic side effects, while others have shown it to be beneficial to health. Their study, although it did not establish a causal relationship between coffee and the risk of death, provides new insights into this debate. So how much coffee is appropriate for a person to drink each day? Our study suggests that up to 28 cups per week is safe,” says Sui Xuemei. My personal opinion is to drink small amounts, maybe one to three cups a day.”