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Drinking coffee, particularly two to three cups a day, is not only associated with a lower risk of heart disease and dangerous heart rhythms, but also longer life, according to studies presented at the 71st Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology. The benefit is for both people with and without cardiovascular disease.
The researchers said the analyses, the largest looking at coffee’s potential role in heart disease and death, provide reassurance that coffee is not linked to new heart disease and may actually protect the heart.
«Because coffee can speed up your heart ratesome people worry that drinking it might trigger or worsen certain heart problems.
But our data suggest that daily coffee consumption should not be discouraged, but included as part of a healthy diet for people with and without heart disease,” said Peter M. Kistler, of the Alfred Hospital and Baker Heart Institute in Melbourne, Australia. ) and lead author of the study. “We found that drinking coffee had a neutral effect, meaning it did not cause harm, or was associated with heart health benefits.”
Kistler and his team used data from the UK BioBank, a large-scale prospective database of health information on more than half a million people who were followed for at least 10 years.
The researchers looked at different levels of coffee consumption ranging from one cup to more than six cups a day and the association with heart rhythm problems (arrhythmias); cardiovascular disease, including coronary artery disease, heart failure, and stroke; and total and heart-related deaths among people with and without cardiovascular disease. Patients were grouped according to the amount of coffee they reported drinking each day: 0.5 cups/day. Coffee consumption was assessed from questionnaires completed at registration entry.
Overall, they found no effect or, in many cases, significant reductions in cardiovascular risk after controlling for exercise, alcohol, smoking, diabetes, and high blood pressure that might also play a role in heart health and longevity.
For him first studyThe researchers examined data from 382,535 people without known heart disease to see if coffee consumption played a role in the development of heart disease or stroke during 10 years of follow-up. The average age of the participants was 57 years, and half were women.
Overall, drinking two to three cups of coffee a day was associated with the greatest benefit, translating to a 10%-15% lower risk of developing coronary heart disease, heart failure, heart rhythm problems, or dying of any reason . The risk of stroke or heart-related death was lower among people who drank one cup of coffee a day.
The greatest benefit was seen among people who drank two to three cups of coffee a day and a smaller benefit was seen among those who drank more or less.
The second included 34,279 people who had some type of cardiovascular disease at the start of the study. Drinking two to three cups of coffee a day was associated with lower odds of dying compared with not drinking coffee.
Importantly, drinking any amount of coffee was not associated with an increased risk of heart rhythm problems, including atrial fibrillation (AFib) or atrial flutter, which Kistler said is often what doctors are concerned about. Of the 24,111 people included in the analysis who had an arrhythmia at the start of the study, drinking coffee was associated with a lower risk of death.
For example, people with atrial fibrillation who drank a cup of coffee a day were nearly 20% less likely to die than people who didn’t drink coffee.
Although two or three cups of coffee a day seemed to be the most favorable overall, Kistler says people shouldn’t increase their coffee intake, especially if it makes them feel anxious or uncomfortable.
«There is a whole range of mechanisms through which coffee can reduce mortality and have these favorable effects on cardiovascular diseases”Explain.
So how could coffee beans benefit the heart? Coffee is often equated with caffeine, but coffee beans actually have more than 100 biologically active compounds. These substances can help reduce oxidative stress and inflammation, improve insulin sensitivity, stimulate metabolism, inhibit intestinal fat absorption and block receptors known to be involved with abnormal heart rhythms, Kistler said.
In a third study, researchers looked at whether there was any difference in the relationship between coffee and cardiovascular disease depending on whether someone drank instant or ground coffee, caffeinated or decaf. They found, once again, that two to three cups a day were associated with the lowest risk of arrhythmias, blockages in the heart’s arteries, stroke or heart failure, regardless of whether they drank ground or instant coffee.
Lower death rates were observed for all types of coffee. Decaffeinated coffee had no favorable effect against incident arrhythmia, but it did reduce cardiovascular disease, with the exception of heart failure. Kistler said the findings suggest that caffeinated coffee is generally preferable, and that there are no cardiovascular benefits to choosing decaf over caffeinated coffee.
There are several important limitations in these studies. The researchers were unable to control for dietary factors that may play a role in cardiovascular disease, nor were they able to adjust for creams, milk or sugar consumed. The participants were predominantly white, so further studies are needed to determine if these findings extend to other populations.
Finally, coffee intake was based on self-report through a questionnaire sent at study entry.
This must be taken into account when interpreting the study’s findings, although Kistler noted that the research suggests people’s dietary habits don’t change much in adulthood or over time. Kistler concluded by saying that the results need to be validated in randomized trials.
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