Black coffee can be good for your heart, studies show

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Drinking one or more cups of regular, leaded coffee per day was associated with a long-term reduced risk of heart failure, according to a review of nutritional data from three large studies with analytical instruments from the American Heart Association.

The benefit didn’t extend to decaf coffee. Instead, the analysis found a link between decaffeinated coffee and an increased risk of heart failure.

Heart failure occurs when a weakened heart does not supply the body’s cells with enough blood to get the oxygen needed for the body to function properly. People with heart failure suffer from fatigue and shortness of breath and have difficulty walking, climbing stairs or other daily activities.

Although the causal relationship cannot be established, it is intriguing that these three studies suggest that drinking coffee is associated with a reduced risk of heart failure and that coffee may be part of a healthy diet when consumed plain, without added sugars and high-fat dairy products. like cream, ”registered dietitian Penny Kris-Etherton, directly past chair of the American Heart Association’s Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Council Leadership Committee, said in a statement. She was not involved in the investigation.

Massive data analysis

The study, published Tuesday in the AHA journal Circulation: Heart Failure, analyzed self-reported nutritional information from the original Framingham Heart Study. That study, which began in 1948, enrolled more than 5,000 people with no diagnosed heart disease living in Framingham, Massachusetts. The study follows those people and their descendants for 72 years for three generations.
The new study used state-of-the-art analytical tools from the AHA’s Precision Medicine Platform to compare the Framingham data with the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, a longitudinal, multisite, biracial study, and the Cardiovascular Health Study, a 10-year -Long study of cardiovascular risk in adults over 65 years of age.

In total, the studies provided nutritional information on more than 21,000 adult Americans.

Compared to people who did not drink coffee, the analysis found that the risk of heart failure decreased over time between 5% and 12% for each cup of coffee consumed every day in the Framingham Heart and the Cardiovascular Health studies.

The risk of heart failure remained the same for no coffee or one cup per day in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. But if people drank two or more cups of black coffee a day, the risk was reduced by about 30%, the analysis found.

“The link between caffeine and reducing the risk of heart failure was surprising,” said senior author Dr. David Kao, medical director of the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora.

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“Coffee and caffeine are often considered ‘bad’ for the heart by the general population because people associate them with palpitations, high blood pressure, etc. The consistent relationship between increasing caffeine consumption and decreasing heart failure risk turns that assumption on its head,” Kao said in a statement.

A little bit of caution

All these studies have been done with drinking black coffee. However, many people add dairy products, sugars, flavors or non-dairy creams that are high in calories, added sugars and fat. That likely negates any benefits for the heart, the AHA warns.

Also keep in mind that in most studies a cup of coffee is only 8 grams; the standard “grande” cup at the coffee shop is double 16 ounces.

The healthiest way to brew your coffee - and possibly extend your life

How you brew your coffee also has health implications. Unlike filter coffee makers, a French press, Turkish coffee or the boiled coffee popular in Scandinavian countries fail to capture a compound called cafestol in the oily part of coffee. Cafestol can increase your bad cholesterol or LDL (low density lipoproteins).

Caffeine can be dangerous if over-consumed by certain populations, research has shown. High levels of coffee consumption (greater than 4 cups) during pregnancy were associated with low birth weight, preterm birth, and stillbirths in a 2017 study. For women at higher risk of fractures, coffee increased that risk; the same was not true for men.
Previous studies also suggested that people with sleep problems or uncontrolled diabetes should see a doctor before adding caffeine to their diet.

And, of course, these benefits don’t apply to children – according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children and adolescents shouldn’t drink colas, coffee, energy drinks, or any other drinks that contain any amount of caffeine.

“The bottom line: Enjoy coffee in moderation as part of an overall heart-healthy diet that meets the recommendations for fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat / non-fat dairy products, and is also low in sodium and saturated fat, and added sugars, ”said Kris-Etherton.

“It’s also important to keep in mind that caffeine is a stimulant and consuming too much can be problematic, causing nervousness and sleep problems,” she said.

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