Is Coffee Safe For Your Heart?

Over the years, research has gone back and forth on the health harm or benefit of coffee drinking. The latest results come from two large population studies that showed that drinking coffee, even 6 cups or more a day, was not associated with a greater likelihood of developing coronary heart disease (CHD).

Researchers examined the effects of coffee intake on CHD in 44,000 men enrolled in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study and in 84,500 women in the Nurses' Health Study.

There was a strong association between coffee consumption and cigarette smoking. Coffee drinkers were also more likely to consume alcohol and to use aspirin, and they exercised less often than those who did not drink coffee.

After adjusting for age, smoking, and other risk factors for CHD, the incidence of CHD over a 20-year period was no greater in those who consumed small or large amounts of coffee than in those who drank no coffee at all.

The authors point out that the subjects in these studies drank only standard or drip coffee. The safety of coffee may not extend to those with high intakes of unfiltered coffee, such as that made in a French press, which has been shown in a number of studies to raise LDL cholesterol levels.