Is coffee safe or a risk to your heart? Two recent studies seem to contradict each other regarding this question, which often leaves coffee lovers scratching their heads.
A study presented at the conference of the British Cardiovascular Society in June suggests that drinking five cups of coffee a day was not worse for the arteries than drinking less than a cup.
The study of more than 8,000 people across the United Kingdom also found that even those who drank up to 25 cups per day were not more likely to experience artery stiffening than someone who drank less than one cup per day.
A cup of coffee can bring some health benefits since it contains antioxidants and has been associated with a longer life, but other studies suggest that coffee overload can put the health of the heart at risk.
Recent research found that excessive coffee consumption, measured at six cups per day, may be associated with a moderate increase in the risk of cardiovascular disease compared to the risk in those who drink less.
"In nutrition, it is always expected that there is a threshold above which the increase in intake is no longer beneficial, and this is what we saw here," said Elina Hypponen, co-author of the study and director of the Australian Center Precision Health from the Cancer Research Institute of the University of South Australia.
"The best practice seems to be to stick to moderation," he said.
The study, published in March in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, included health data on long-term coffee consumption and cardiovascular disease among 347,077 adults in the United Kingdom.
The data were collected at 22 centers between 2006 and 2010. It presented information on how many cups of coffee the subjects drank each day and the incidence of cardiovascular disease was measured.
Information on the cardiovascular health of each adult came from hospitalized patients and mortality records, Hypponen said in an email.
The subjects were grouped into seven categories: those who did not drink coffee, those who drank decaffeinated coffee and those who drank coffee with caffeine. The last group was divided by the number of cups they drank per day, on average.
The researchers found that, compared to those who drank one or two cups a day, the odds of cardiovascular disease were 11% higher among adults who did not drink coffee, 7% higher among those who drank decaffeinated and 22% more high among those who drank more than six cups a day.
"Readers may be surprised by the slight elevation in risk for those who did not drink coffee or chose decaffeinated coffee," Hypponen said.
"Coffee contains caffeine, which is a stimulant. It has been shown that the administration of caffeine in clinical trials increases the activity of the sympathetic nervous system and blood pressure, and in simple terms, the excessive consumption of coffee can make your heart work more, "said Hypponen.
"Anything that makes your heart work harder through these kinds of mechanisms, be it stress or excessive coffee drinking, can be detrimental to your heart, especially if it continues for long periods of time," he said. "Some types of coffee that are produced unfiltered also contain cafestol, which increases LDL cholesterol in the blood and can affect the risk of cardiovascular disease through related mechanisms."
LDL cholesterol is considered "bad" cholesterol since high levels increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.
The study had some limitations, among which the data on coffee consumption were directly reported by people and did not specify the size of the cup of coffee that was taken.
In addition, the findings can not be generalized outside the population of people who habitually drink coffee.
People also tend to self-regulate their coffee consumption based on various factors, such as health problems or pregnancy.
In general, there has been a history of changes in medical opinions about how coffee can affect health, with some studies finding benefits and others warning about risks.
For example, "a previous study shows that moderate but not excessive consumption of coffee could have cardiovascular benefits," said Dr. Nieca Goldberg, cardiologist and medical director of the Joan H. Tisch Center for Women's Health at NYU Langone Health in New York, who was not involved in the new study or in the previous one.
Preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association's scientific sessions in 2017 suggested that coffee may be related to a reduced risk of heart failure and stroke. It was found that a 7% decrease in the risk of heart failure and 8% in reducing the risk of stroke was associated with each cup increase in coffee consumed per week.
So "studies are everywhere," said Goldberg, a volunteer expert with the American Heart Association.
"What I think about coffee and the increased risk of heart disease is that the data we have so far is not enough to tell people to stop drinking coffee," he said. "Coffee is probably safe as long as you do not drink it excessively."
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