Coffee is one of the most extensively researched components in the diet. New studies are regularly being added to the already large body of scientific research, which overall suggests that moderate habitual coffee consumption is not associated with detrimental effects on cardiovascular health

Among recent studies, a new review paper1 highlights that for most healthy people, moderate coffee consumption is unlikely to adversely affect cardiovascular health. Furthermore a new paper2 concluded that higher green tea and coffee consumption is inversely associated with risk of CVD and stroke in the general population.

Considerable research has also been devoted to investigating associations between coffee consumption and key risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as hypertension (high blood pressure) and elevated cholesterol. Most evidence suggests that regular moderate consumption of caffeinated coffee has no long-term effect on blood pressure and does not increase the risk of hypertension.

A recent study suggests that moderate consumption of paper-filtered coffee may have an unfavourable effect on plasma cholesterol3. The wider body of evidence indicates that the impact of coffee on cholesterol is dependent on the brewing method. Unfiltered coffee raises serum cholesterol levels whereas this is not the case with filter coffee because the cholesterol-raising compounds in coffee are retained in the paper filter.

Throughout 2013 coffee and mortality has been a subject of several scientific research papers, which have produced conflicting results. One study4 found a 21% increase in mortality rate in those drinking more than 28 cups of coffee a week. However recent data from a meta-analysis and systematic review5 assessed 23 studies and concluded that coffee consumption is, in fact, inversely related to the risk of mortality.

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References

1 Rebello S.A. & van Dam R.M. (2013) Coffee Consumption and Cardiovascular Health: Getting to the Heart of the Matter. Current Cardiology Reports, 15:403.

2 Kokubo Y. et al. (2013) The Impact of Green Tea and Coffee Consumption on the Reduced Risk of Stroke Incidence in Japanese Population: The Japan Public Health Center-Based Study Cohort. Stroke, published online ahead of print.

3 Correa T.A.F. et al. (2013) Paper filtered coffee increases cholesterol and inflammation biomarkers independent of roasting degree. Nutrition, 29(7-8):977-81.

4 Liu J. et al. (2013) Association of coffee consumtpion with all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, published online ahead of print.

5 Malerba S. et al. (2013) A meta-analysis of prospective studies of coffee consumtpion and mortality for all causes, cancers and cardiovascular disease. European Journal of Epidemiology, 28(7):527-539.

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Emma Knott
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