Coffee Lovers, Rejoice: Study Suggests Coffee is Associated With Good Heart Health

New studies show that drinking coffee — particularly two to three cups per day — is associated with a lower risk of heart diseases and dangerous heart rhythms, as well as with living longer. 

The first study, the largest to date to look at coffee’s potential role in heart disease and death, included 382,535 individuals over a period of 10 years, while the second study included 34,279 individuals who had previously been diagnosed with some form of cardiovascular disease. The results may be surprising: two to three cups of coffee per day translated to a 10%-15% lower risk of developing coronary heart disease, heart failure, a heart rhythm problem, or dying for any reason. 

“Because coffee can quicken heart rate, some people worry that drinking it could trigger or worsen certain heart issues,” explains the study’s senior author and professor and head of arrhythmia research at the Alfred Hospital and Baker Heart Institute in Melbourne, Australia, Peter M. Kistler, MD. “This is where general medical advice to stop drinking coffee may come from. But our data suggest that daily coffee intake shouldn’t be discouraged, but rather included as a part of a healthy diet for people with and without heart disease.” 

Though coffee is often associated with caffeine, it is much more than that; coffee beans contain over 100 biologically active compounds which range from reducing oxidative stress and inflammation, improving insulin sensitivity, and boosting metabolism, among others. Coffee lovers everywhere: rejoice, over a cup of joy, of course!