Drinking coffee could reduce heart diseases and even mortality
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Researchers from University of Melbourne, Australia concluded that drinking any variety of coffee (instant, ground and decaffeinated) reduces cardiovascular morbidity and all-cause mortality.
Coffee is widely consumed almost all over the world, and its main active ingredient caffeine is the most common psychostimulant.
Historically, it has been considered detrimental to cardiovascular health, with up to 80% of physicians recommending that patients with related conditions not to drink it.
Recent studies have refuted this view, showing that coffee drinkers are less likely to suffer from arrhythmias and are less prone to cardiovascular disease in general.
Therefore, drinking 3-4 cups of coffee per day is considered moderately beneficial for their prevention in the 2021 European Heart Society guidelines.
However, the available data lacked integrity and did not look at individual varieties.
MORE COFFEE MORE LIFE?
So, Peter Kistler and his colleagues from the Baker Institute used data from almost 450,000 participants in the UK Biobank large prospective observational study to fill this gap.
The database included people with ages from 40-69, with a median of 58 years; and 55.3% women. The mean follow-up time was 12.5 ± 0.7 years.
The work did not include people with an initial diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases, including arrhythmias.
Before the start of the observation, each participant was examined and completed a questionnaire regarding lifestyle and potential risk factors.
The questions included attitudes to tea and coffee, indicating specific preferences
- instant
- ground (like cappuccino)
- decaffeinated
The researchers also wanted to know the average consumption: from 0 to more than 5 cups per day.
Kistler's team obtained data on outcomes from national health registries and death certificates.
The scientists also performed statistical analysis using Cox regression, adjusting for
- age
- gender
- ethnicity
- body mass index
- comorbidities
- lifestyle-related risk factors (like smoking and alcohol use)
Also, the people was divided as follow:
- 22.4% of participants did not drink coffee and were included in the control group
- 44.1% preferred instant coffee
- 18.4% liked ground
- 15.2% drink decaffeinated
During the observation period, 6.7% of the volunteers registered arrhythmia.
The analysis showed that consumption of any amount of instant or ground coffee, but not decaffeinated, reduced the risk of such events
Also, this effect was most pronounced among drinkers of 2-3 cups per day. They had a risk ratio (HR) of 0.91% at a 95% confidence interval.
9.6% of the participants were diagnosed with cardiovascular diseases:
- coronary heart disease
- congestive heart failure
- ischemic stroke
The likelihood of developing such diseases was significantly lower among consumers of up to 5 cups per day of any type of coffee.
The team observed the largest decrease in the group drinking 2–3 cups per day.
During the study, 6.2% of the participants died.
A decrease in all-cause mortality was recorded among those who drank up to 5 cups of any coffee per day.
The most pronounced effect, as in previous cases, was observed when drinking 2–3 cups.
CONCLUSIONS
The team found that drinking any type of coffee, especially 2–3 cups per day, was associated with a significant reduction in cardiovascular morbidity and all-cause mortality.
For a caffeinated drink (soluble or ground), this is also true in terms of the development of arrhythmias.
British and Hungarian scientists came to similar conclusions in 2021, but they did not take into account specific varieties of coffee in their work.
So now you know, drink your java at will ;)
Source:
- European Journal of Preventive Cardiology: https://academic.oup.com/eurjpc/advance-article/doi/10.1093/eurjpc/zwac189/6704995
- Medscape: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/981518
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It might help prevent prostate cancer, too.
Up until a couple of weeks ago, I was drinking two pots a day. Now I stopped. I wanted to see if it made any difference to my quality of sleep (it didn't).
Not sure if I'm going to eventually start drinking it again or not. I had nasty headaches for a couple of days, which I assume was caffeine withdrawal.
I usually stop drinking coffee for two weeks every six months or so (twice a year), and yeah those headaches are part of the routine. But I do see the benefits of caffeine.
I drink in the mornings it is very beneficial, especially if you do physical activity, says another study...
Cheers
Yeah. I drink at least 2 during the day. It also helps with the physical activity.