Can Drinking Coffee Prolong Life and Reduce Heart Disease Risk? How much daily drinking is the best?

China Medical Tribune

In many people's eyes, coffee is not only a drink, but also a culture, a way of life. For many, coffee has become the "standard" of everyday life.

At home, it allows people to spend time in a room filled with fragrance and experience slow life; When tired, it is the "good medicine" for office workers to recharge; Leisure time, it is an integral part of friends gathering and socializing.

But, drink coffee also should pay attention to method, how to drink will be more healthy?

Multiple studies presented recently at the 71st Annual Meeting of the American College of Cardiology (ACC 2022) Scientific Sessions show thatDrinking coffee, especially two to three cups a day, has been linked not only to a reduced risk of heart disease and abnormal heart rate, but also to longer life expectancy.Moreover, these trends apply to people with or without cardiovascular disease

Researchers stress that,The largest analysis yet of coffee's potential role in heart disease and death confirmed no link between coffee and having or worsening heart disease, on the contrary may have a protective effect on the heart.

Peter M. Kistler, MD, a professor at the Alfred Hospital and the Baker Heart Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and a senior researcher on the study, said "The data suggest that instead of banning coffee every day, it should be part of a healthy diet for people with or without heart disease." He further stated that “We found that coffee has a neutral effect, which means it's not harmful, and it may be good for you.。”

The research team used sample data from UK Biobank, a large, prospective database containing health information on more than half a million people who were tracked for at least 10 years. The researchers looked at the relationship between different coffee intakes ranging from one to more than six cups a day and the development of arrhythmias, cardiovascular disease (including coronary artery disease, heart failure and stroke), all-cause or heart-disease-related death in the subjects. Participants were grouped according to their reported daily coffee consumption (based on questionnaires completed at enrollment), such as 0, < 1, 1, 2-3, 4-5, or > 5 cups / day.

Overall, the researchers found two results:

1) Coffee consumption did not have any adverse effects on the subjects.

2) Controlling for factors that will affect heart health and longevity, including exercise, alcohol consumption, smoking, diabetes and hypertension, significantly reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease in many cases.

Drinking two to three cups of coffee a day has the best health benefits

In the first study, the effects of habitual coffee consumption on cardiovascular disease, cardiac arrhythmia and mortality were studied. Researchers evaluated data on 382,535 subjects with no known heart disease to see if coffee drinking played a role in the development of heart disease or stroke over 10 years of follow-up tracking. The average age of the subjects was 57 and half of them were women. The study found that

In general,Drinking two to three cups of coffee a day has the greatest benefit, reducing the risk of coronary heart disease, heart failure, heart rhythm problems or death from any cause by 10 to 15 percent.

Those who drank a cup of coffee a day had the lowest risk of stroke or heart-related death.

The researchers did observe a U-shaped relationship between coffee intake and new heart rate problems. Because subjects who drank more or less coffee each day had smaller benefits

The second study explored the association between regular coffee intake and improved mortality from cardiovascular disease in 34,279 people with different cardiovascular diseases. The findings:

Subjects who drank two to three cups of coffee a day were less likely to die than those who didn't.

Importantly, drinking any amount of coffee did not increase the risk of heart rhythm problems, including atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter, which the researchers say are often of concern to clinicians.

Among the 24,111 subjects with arrhythmias included in the analysis, the study showed that drinking coffee was associated with a lower risk of death. For example, subjects with atrial fibrillation who drank a cup of coffee a day may have nearly 20 percent lower mortality than those who didn't drink coffee.

“Clinicians generally do not recommend that people who already have cardiovascular disease or cardiac arrhythmia continue to drink coffee, so they are often overcautious and will advise them to stop drinking coffee altogether, But our study shows that regular coffee intake is safe and may be part of a healthy diet for heart disease patients.

Although drinking two to three cups of coffee a day seems to be the most beneficial, the researchers suggest that people should not increase their coffee intake, especially if it makes them feel anxious or uncomfortable.

Dr Kistler said: “Coffee drinkers should feel reassured that they can continue to enjoy their coffee even if they have a heart condition. Coffee is the most common cognitive enhancer - it refreshes and sharpens the mind. "

So how do coffee beans benefit the heart?

Coffee is often equated with caffeine, but coffee beans actually contain more than 100 bioactive compounds. These substances can help reduce oxidative stress and inflammation, increase insulin sensitivity, boost metabolism, inhibit the absorption of fat in the gut and block receptors known to be involved in abnormal heart rhythms, Dr. Kistler said.

In a third study, the researchers explored the impact of different coffee types on cardiac arrhythmic events, cardiovascular disease and mortality. They looked at whether there were differences in the relationship between coffee and cardiovascular disease, depending on whether people drank instant or ground coffee, caffeinated or decaffeinated.

Again, the study found that whether they drank freshly ground or instant coffee,Drinking two to three cups a day is associated with the lowest risk of arrhythmia, blocked coronary arteries, stroke or heart failure.Mortality rates were lower for all coffee types.

Decaffeinated coffee does not work well to prevent arrhythmias, but does reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease, with the exception of heart failure.

Dr Kistler stressed that the findings show that caffeinated coffee is more popular and that decaffeinated coffee has no cardiovascular benefits.

In the future, further medical evidence will be obtained through trials

The team noted that the studies had several important limitations: The researchers were unable to control for dietary factors that may contribute to cardiovascular disease; Unable to adjust intake of any creamer, milk or sugar; The participants were predominantly white, so more research is needed to determine whether the findings extend to other populations.

Although research shows that people's eating habits don't change much in adulthood or over time. However, these results should be validated in randomized trials.