Go ahead and have that second cup of coffee — or third, or fourth. A study published Monday shows heavy, long-term coffee drinking does not raise the risk of heart disease for most people.
The study, which followed 128,000 men and women for as long as 20 years, showed that drinking filtered coffee — not espresso or French-style brews — did not raise the risk of heart disease.
Heavy coffee drinkers did tend to smoke and drink alcohol more often and those two factors clearly do raise heart risk, the researchers report in the journal Circulation.
“We believe this study clearly shows there is no association between filtered coffee consumption and coronary heart disease,” said Esther Lopez-Garcia, an instructor in the School of Medicine at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in Spain, who worked on the study.
“This lack of effect is good news, because coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world.”
Researchers also found no link between heart disease and how much caffeine, tea or decaffeinated coffee people drank.
But this does not mean that everyone can overload on coffee with impunity, said Rob van Dam of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.
“We can’t exclude the association between coffee consumption and the risk of (heart disease) in small groups of people,” Van Dam said in a statement.
So, not only does drinking coffee offer protection against Parkinson's Disease, reduce the risk of type-II diabetes, and protect against liver disease, but I can drink as much as I want and it won't hurt my heart?
Ya, freakin' hoo!
I love my coffee, so this comes as good news. You can read more on the health benefits of coffee (including cavity prevention and reduced risk of colon cancer) here, here, and here.
So if you've cut back on coffee or eliminated it completely to improve your health, you may want to reconsider.
NOTE: Those with heart disease, ulcers, acid reflux, or a sensitivity to caffeine should stick with the decaf. Some people with migraine headaches find that coffee helps, while others have found that it triggers the headaches. Please respect your body and its needs. If coffee doesn't feel good for you, don't drink it.
Technorati Tags: Coffee, Health benefits, Type-II diabetes, Heart disease, Liver cancer, Colon cancer, Moderation, Parkinson's disease
Del.Icio.Us Tags: Coffee, Health benefits, Type-II diabetes, Heart disease, Liver cancer, Colon cancer, Moderation, Parkinson's disease
Love my coffee too, Bill. But I'll admit that I've felt MUCH better since making an extra effort to drink more water alongside the coffee. Dehydration is a bitch. I'm amazed at how often in the past I've thought I've been "hungry", when really I'm just craving water.
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