If you need another reason to say “bottoms up” to your trusty old coffee mug in the morning, then a new study may be right up your alley. A Korean study suggests regular coffee consumption may lead to having a healthier heart and cleaner arteries.
BBC News reports about the South Korean study and what it means for coffee drinkers. The research team looked at about 25,000 males and females and what they found was that those who drank between 3 and 5 cups of coffee per day were less likely to have early signs of heart disease during their medical scans.
The scan researchers looked at shows small deposits of calcium in the walls of the coronary arteries. Though none of the participants involved in the study showed outward signs of having heart disease, one in ten had these calcium deposits visible on their scans. But interestingly, those who drank between 3 and 5 cups of coffee per day showed less calcium deposits in their arteries than those who drank no coffee or more than 5 cups per day. It seems as though somewhere between 3 and 5 cups may be the magic number.
Having clogged arteries is a known risk factor in heart attack and stroke, but this new study suggests that regular coffee drinkers have lower incidence of this early sign of heart disease. Of course, coffee consumption studies should always be taken with a grain of salt since they constantly seem to contradict the previous findings. Victoria Taylor of the British Heart Foundation warns, “While this study does highlight a potential link between coffee consumption and lower risk of developing clogged arteries, more research is needed to confirm these findings and understand what the reason is for the association.” She adds, “"We need to take care when generalising these results because it is based on the South Korean population, who have different diet and lifestyle habits to people in the UK.” And the U.S. for that matter.
What do you think of the new study that suggests coffee drinkers have cleaner arteries?
Do you think coffee consumption can be part of a heart healthy diet?