In people without a diagnosis of heart disease, regular coffee consumption up to 3 cups a day would decrease the risk of death from heart disease, stroke and premature death.
- Light to moderate drinking had a 12% lower risk of death from all causes.
- The risk of death from cardiovascular disease is reduced by 17% and that of stroke by 21%.
Up to a certain limit, coffee proves to be a healthy ally. Be careful, however, not to exceed a consumption of about six cups daily, at the risk of increasing the possibility of occurrence of cardiovascular disease. But limiting the amount ingested to three cups each day could protect the heart and reduce the possibility of death, from heart disease or prematurely, and also of suffering a stroke. This is revealed by a large study involving nearly half a million patients and presented last Friday at the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology.
Follow-up over more than 10 years
This study looked at the coffee drinking behavior of over 468,629 Britons whose data was extracted from the UK Biobank’s long-term follow-up database. They followed the patients for a period of between 10 and 15 years. “To our knowledge, this is the largest study systematically evaluating the cardiovascular effects of regular coffee consumption in a population without diagnosed heart disease.”, estimates Judit Simon, researcher at the Hungarian Semmelweis University and lead author of the study.
For the research, participants were divided into three groups based on their usual coffee consumption: no consumption (22.1%); light to moderate consumption, between 0.5 and 3 cups/day (58.4%); and high consumption, more than 3 cups/day (19.5%). The researchers then estimated the association of daily coffee consumption with cardiac event outcomes over a median follow-up of 11 years. Analyzes were adjusted for factors that may influence the relationship, including age, sex, weight, height, smoking, physical activity, high blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol level, socioeconomic status and diet.
healthier hearts
Light to moderate drinking showed a 12% lower risk of death from all causes, a 17% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease and a 21% lower risk of stroke.
To better understand this relationship, the researchers used data from 30,650 participants who underwent cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which can assess heart structure and function. “Imaging analysis indicated that compared to participants who did not drink coffee regularly, daily drinkers had healthier and better-functioning hearts. This was consistent with reversing the adverse effects of aging on the heart”, reported Judit Simon.
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