Doesn't cause heart disease
Coffee not so bad
Has another myth been broken? After years of warnings about the dangers of large amounts of coffee to the heart, a new study suggests it's not so bad after all
Are you worried about your addiction to coffee? At least as far as cardio-health is concerned, you can rest assured. A new American- Spanish study suggests coffee poses no threat of heart disease for most people.
The study was conducted over the past 20 years and included tens of thousands of men and women. Last march the American Medical Association journal reported that some people with low kidney function were at risk of heart disease from drinking too much coffee.
Other studies showed a connection between heart disease and drinking coffee prepared with non-paper filters.
Joint study
The new study was conducted by researchers from Autonoma University in Madrid and Harvard University in Boston, and tracked 128 male and female subjects for 20 years. The subjects filled out periodic questionnaires about their dietary habits and exercise activity, and they were also required to undergo medical examinations at the same time.
The results showed that about half of the women and 30 percent of the men who drank six cups or more per day also tended to smoke, drink alcohol and take vitamins. The study showed no difference between regular and decaffeinated coffee with regard to heart attacks.
The study also suggested there is no difference between "good" cholesterol levels (HDL) or bad cholesterol (LDL) amongst consumers of regular and decaffeinated drinkers or those who refrained from coffee altogether.
Fundamental drink
Researchers also found that Type B diabetes amongst older people did not raise the risk of heart disease amongst coffee drinkers, compared to non-coffee folks.
"Coffee is one of the most fundamental drinks in Western society," said researchers in the industry journal Circulation. "Research shows that drinking coffee does not raise the prospect of heart disease, but unsupervised coffee drinking is not recommended."
