In a large prospective cohort study, decaffeinated, ground, and instant coffee — particularly at 2-3 cups a day — were associated with significant reductions in incident cardiovascular disease and mortality; ground and instant but not decaffeinated coffee was associated with reduced arrhythmia.
Drinking two to three cups of coffee a day is linked with a longer lifespan and lower risk of cardiovascular disease compared with avoiding coffee. Image credit: Sci.News.
Coffee is ubiquitous in most societies, with its main constituent caffeine the most commonly consumed psychostimulant worldwide.
With increasing public awareness on cardiovascular disease prevention, significant interest has focused on modifiable lifestyle risk factors, including the safety of coffee.
Historically up to 80% of health practitioners recommend avoiding coffee in patients with cardiovascular disease. This misconception has been challenged by recent observational studies, which not only report the safety but a beneficial effect of coffee intake on incident arrhythmia and cardiovascular disease prevention.
In fact, coffee consumption at 3-4 cups/day is described as moderately beneficial in the prevention of cardiovascular disease in the 2021 European Society of Cardiology guidelines, although no such recommendation was made in the 2019 AHA/ACC guidelines.
Although observational studies support the beneficial health effects of coffee, there is a lack of dedicated studies aiming to address the impact of different coffee subtypes on hard clinical outcomes such as arrhythmia, cardiovascular disease, and mortality.
Much attention is directed towards coffee’s major constituent, caffeine; however, coffee is made up of more than 100 different biologic agents.
“Our results suggest that mild to moderate intake of ground, instant and decaffeinated coffee should be considered part of a healthy lifestyle,” said Professor Peter Kistler, a researcher at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Research Institute.
In their study, Professor Kistler and his colleagues examined the associations between types of coffee and incident arrhythmias, cardiovascular disease and mortality using data from the UK Biobank. Cardiovascular disease was comprised of coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure and ischaemic stroke.
A total of 449, 563 participants (median 58 years, 55.3% females) were followed over 12.5 years.
Ground and instant coffee consumption was associated with a significant reduction in arrhythmia at 1-5 cups/day but not for decaffeinated coffee.
The lowest risk was 4-5 cups/day for ground coffee and 2-3 cups/day for instant coffee.
All coffee subtypes were associated with a reduction in incident cardiovascular disease (the lowest risk was 2-3 cups/day for decaffeinated, ground, and instant coffee) vs. non-drinkers.
All-cause mortality was significantly reduced for all coffee subtypes, with the greatest risk reduction seen with 2-3 cups/day for decaffeinated; ground; and instant coffee.
“Caffeine is the most well-known constituent in coffee, but the beverage contains more than 100 biologically active components,” Professor Kistler said.
“It is likely that the non-caffeinated compounds were responsible for the positive relationships observed between coffee drinking, cardiovascular disease and survival.”
“Our findings indicate that drinking modest amounts of coffee of all types should not be discouraged but can be enjoyed as a heart healthy behavior.”
The results were published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
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David Chieng et al. The impact of coffee subtypes on incident cardiovascular disease, arrhythmias, and mortality: long-term outcomes from the UK Biobank. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, published online September 27, 2022; doi: 10.1093/eurjpc/zwac189
