Lots Of Coffee Not Linked To Heart Risks, New Study

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Main Category: Nutrition / Diet
Also Included In: Cardiovascular / Cardiology;  Cholesterol;  Public Health
Article Date: 26 Apr 2006 - 7:00 PST

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According to a new study on more than 120,000 people over a period of twenty years, there is no link between heavy coffee drinking and a raised risk of coronary heart disease. Heavy coffee drinking means you consume six or more cups per day. The study found that the heart risks for heavy coffee drinkers is no different from those who only have one cup or less per month.

The researchers said this study does not apply to the unfiltered 'expresso' type coffee.

The researchers pointed out that there may be some groups of people who are still susceptible to heart risk from drinking too much coffee. Some people carry a gene that makes it more difficult for the body to metabolise caffeine.

You can read about this study in the journal Circulation.

Health experts warned that there are things you can add to your cup of coffee which may alter your chances of developing certain diseases. If you drink eight cups a day, all of them super-sweet with four spoons of sugar each, you will probably put on a load of weight and over the long-term have a raised risk of developing diabetes type 2, as well as some other diseases.

The scientists in this study had to factor out many things which are associated with heavy coffee drinking. A much higher percentage of heavy coffee drinkers are smokers and/or drinkers of alcohol. A smaller percentage of heavy coffee drinkers do regular exercise, when compared to non-heavy coffee drinkers.

The study also found that women who regularly drink decaffeinated coffee have the same heart risk as those who don't.

Coffee drinkers, regardless of whether they consume caffeinated or decaf, have similar levels of good and bad cholesterol.

Pregnant women should limit their caffeine intake. The developing baby is sensitive to it.

The study included 44,005 men and 84,488 women. None of them had a history of cardiovascular disease or cancer at the start of the study.

The men were monitored from 1986. The women were first monitored in 1980. Both men and women were assessed every two to four years, until 2000.

The coffee drinkers were broken down into the following categories:

-- Less than 1 cup per month
-- 1 cup per month to 4 cups per week
-- 5-7 cups per week
-- 2-3 cups per day
-- 4-5 cups per day
-- 6 or more cups per day

The researchers concluded that risk of Coronary Heart Disease was the same for all groups.

They also found that people with diabetes 2 who drank coffee regularly had the same coronary heart disease risk as people with diabetes 2 who did not drink coffee regularly.

The authors of this study were:

Esther Lopez-Garcia DrPH, Rob M. van Dam PhD, Walter C. Willett MD, DrPH, Eric B. Rimm ScD, JoAnn E. Manson MD, DrPH, Meir J. Stampfer MD, DrPH, Kathryn M. Rexrode MD, MPH, and Frank B. Hu MD, PhD*

The study was carried out at:

- The Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health
- The Channing Laboratory and Division of Preventive Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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