If you’re a coffee lover, then this article may just make you ecstatic. Some new studies have found that not only is drinking between two to three cups of coffee a day associated with a lower risk of serious heart rhythms and heart disease, it is also linked to longer life.
Notably, these findings are true for both those with and those without cardiovascular disease. In fact, researchers explain that that their analyses – which is considered the biggest probe into the potential role of coffee in heart disease and death – offer assurance that coffee isn’t linked with any new or worsening heart disease but rather, it can possibly even be protective of the heart.
Professor and head of arrhythmia research at the Alfred Hospital and Baker Heart Institute in Melbourne, Australia, Peter M. Kistler, MD, who also happens to be the study’s senior author, said, “Because coffee can quicken heart rate, some people worry that drinking it could trigger or worsen certain heart issues. This is where general medical advice to stop drinking coffee may come from. But our data suggest that daily coffee intake shouldn’t be discouraged, but rather included as a part of a healthy diet for people with and without heart disease.”
He added, “We found coffee drinking had either a neutral effect—meaning that it did no harm—or was associated with benefits to heart health.”
The group of Kistler used data from the UK BioBank, which is a large-scale prospective database with health information of more than half a million people who were followed for a minimum of 10 years.
Showing How It Benefits the Heart
The research group looked at a wide variety of coffee consumption in individuals that ranged from a cup to more than six cups a day, while looking at their relationship with particular heart rhythm problems, otherwise known as arrhythmias. These include health conditions such as ‘cardiovascular disease, including coronary artery disease, heart failure and stroke; and total and heart-related deaths among people both with and without cardiovascular disease.’
Patients were also grouped by how many cups of coffee they drank every day, from 0, less than 1, 1, 2 to 3, 4 to 5, more than 5 cups per day.
The amount of coffee drinking was assessed from questionnaires that were completed upon their entry into the registry. In general, they found that either there was no effect at all, or in a number of cases, there were significant reductions in cardiovascular risk after they took other factors into control, such as exercise, smoking, alcohol, high blood pressure, and diabetes which could all play a huge role in overall heart health and longevity.
When it came to the first study, researchers looked at data from 382,535 people that had no known heart disease to see if coffee drinking would play a role in the development of heart disease or stroke over the 10 years of follow up. Notably, the age of participants was 57 years on average, while half of them were women.
Normally, having two to three cups of coffee daily was associated with the best or greatest benefit, which translated to a ‘10% to 15% lower risk of developing coronary heart disease, heart failure, a heart rhythm problem, or dying for any reason.’ Meanwhile, the risk of stroke or heart related death was the lowest among those that drank at least one cup of coffee every day.
There was, however, a portion where researchers did discover a U-shaped relationship with coffee intake and new heart rhythm problems. But the maximum benefit was among those that drank two to three cups of coffee a day, while there were less benefits seen in those that drank either more or less cups than that.
As for the second study, it included 34,279 participants that had some sort of cardiovascular disease at the baseline. Their coffee intake of two to three cups of coffee a day was also associated with lower odds of dying compared to those that had zero coffee.
Notably, consuming any amount of coffee was not found to have a higher risk of heart rhythm problems, such as atrial fibrillation (AFib) or atrial flutter, which is something that most clinicians tend to be considered about, claims Kistler.
As for the 24,111 individuals that were included in the analysis that had known arrhythmia at the baseline, there was a lowered risk of death associated with those that drank coffee. One example found that those with AFib that drank at least one cup of coffee a day were nearly ‘20% less likely to die than non-coffee drinkers.’
Kistler explained, “Clinicians generally have some apprehension about people with known cardiovascular disease or arrhythmias continuing to drink coffee, so they often err on the side of caution and advise them to stop drinking it altogether due to fears that it may trigger dangerous heart rhythms. But our study shows that regular coffee intake is safe and could be part of a healthy diet for people with heart disease.”
Kistler also explained that although two to three cups of coffee every day was the most favorable on average, he also said that people shouldn’t drink more coffee especially if it makes them feel uncomfortable or anxious.
He added, “There is a whole range of mechanisms through which coffee may reduce mortality and have these favorable effects on cardiovascular disease. Coffee drinkers should feel reassured that they can continue to enjoy coffee even if they have heart disease. Coffee is the most common cognitive enhancer—it wakes you up, makes you mentally sharper and it’s a very important component of many people’s daily lives.”
So how exactly do coffee beans benefit the heart? Kistler said that although people tend to link coffee with caffeine, coffee beans actually have over 100 biologically active compounds. These other substances may help lessen oxidative stress and inflammation, boost metabolism, improving insulin sensitivity, and inhibiting the gut’s absorption of fat and block receptors, all of which are known to be part of abnormal heart rhythms.
As for the third study, the research group looked at whether drinking instant coffee, ground coffee, caffeinated coffee or decaf had anything to do with the relationship between coffee and cardiovascular disease. Once again, they found that two to three cups of coffee a day was linked with the lowest risk of arrhythmias, stroke, heart failure, or blockages in the heart’s arteries, regardless of the type of coffee they drank, whether ground or instant. Lowered rates of death were found in all coffee types, although decaf didn’t have beneficial effects against incident arrhythmia, although it did help lessen cardiovascular disease, except for heart failure.
Kistler shares that their findings suggest that caffeinated coffee is usually what people tend to prefer, although there are no cardiovascular benefits to choosing decaf coffee or caffeinated coffee.
It’s important to note that there were a number of important limitations to the studies as well. Researchers found that they weren’t able to control dietary factors that tend to have a major role in cardiovascular disease. They also weren’t able to see the factors of using creamers, milk and sugar either. Moreover, a number of the participants were predominately white, which also means that additional studies are required to figure out if their findings will also extend to other races and ethnicities.
Kistler also points out that the coffee intake research was based on self-report via questionnaires that were given at the study entry. Such information as this needs to be considered when looking at data study findings, despite the research showing that people’s dietary habits didn’t necessarily change over time. He also said that the results need to be validated by performing randomized trials.
The research can be found in American College of Cardiology.
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