As I’m sitting here typing, I just so happen to be drinking a triple iced espresso with a stevia and some extra almond milk. I suppose I can worry a little less about my coffee consumption after reading recent analysis in the Journal of American Heart Association that is hot off the press.
Dr. Kao and a team of researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical School performed an analysis on the association between coffee intake and the incident heart failure risk.
So what is the tea? What they found was refreshing to say the least. Higher coffee intake was found to be associated with a reduced risk of heart failure.
The researchers filtered through robust data from three different longitudinal studies: The Framington Heart Study, the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, and the Cardiovascular Study. Longitudinal studies like these follow particular participants over a long period of time and can provide a lot of helpful information.
It was important to note that they did not find the same correlation to decaf. In fact, consumption of decaf resulted in an increased risk of heart failure – so can we all agree to skip on that?
The researchers concluded that up to 4-5 cups of coffee a day can reduce the risk of heart failure. But remember, a latte of anything can be bad. Drinking 10 cups of coffee a day is probably not a good idea, whereas moderate consumption (1-5 cups of caffeinated coffee a day) may actually be beneficial to our cardiovascular health.
Jeremiah Robinson PA-C Is a licensed and certified physician assistant in Atlanta, Georgia