Our Hearts Love Coffee

Caffeine worshippers relax! It turns out those routine cups of coffee are actually saving your heart, as well as keeping you energised throughout the day.

South Korean researchers studied more than 25,000 participants through routine health checks in the workplace and found that moderate coffee consumers showed fewer signs of heart disease.

People who drank a few cups of coffee a day were less likely to have calcium deposits in their coronary arteries than people who drank more than this or no coffee at all. Calcium deposits give an indication that there may be early signs of heart disease. These findings were published last week in the online journal Heart.

There is not enough evidence to categorically say that coffee is a panacea for the heart as it contains the stimulant caffeine, but this research lends more weight to the pro side of the argument. According to the researchers, possible explanations for the findings are that habitual coffee consumption may reduce the risk of type two diabetes and might improve insulin sensitivity.

The authors of the research article concluded: “Our study adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that coffee consumption might be inversely associated with CVD (cardiovascular disease) risk. Further research is warranted to confirm our findings and establish the biological basis of coffee’s potential preventive effects on coronary artery disease.”

How much coffee should I be drinking?

If you are guzzling down cups like there is no tomorrow you may be undoing the good. 400mg of caffeine per day is the recommended consumption limit. One cup of filter coffee contains roughly 140mg and a cup of tea is about 75mg.

So it seems that coffee is good for us, now we just have to avoid buying that delicious looking doughnut. Unlike Homer Simpson, coffee drinkers’ veins are not filled with yellow gold.

 

Photo by Yannick Bammert