Coffee May Have Antioxidant Healthy Heart Benefits

Coffee- It’s good for you. It’s bad for you. 

It’s difficult to keep up with the scorekeepers on the java jolt that many people simply need every morning no matter what the downside, or the upside.

So a little upside to report. 

Drinking up to six cups a day may cut the risk of dying from heart disease, according to a study released today in the Annals of Internal Medicine.  

The research, from Harvard School of Public Health looked at the relationship between drinking coffee, and health and death.

Data from more than 41,000 men and more than 86,000 women with no history of heart disease were considered. The participants were followed for 18 and 24 years respectively.  They self reported their coffee consumption.

The long-term regular coffee consumers who drank the most, had the lowest overall risk of death. For women who consumed two to three cups a day, there was a 25 percent lower risk of death from heart disease when compared to non-drinkers.

Why?  “Coffee has some beneficial effects on inflammation and endothelial function, which are the first stages of cardio vascular disease development,” says lead author, Esther Lopez-Garcia to USA Today.

While caffeine is the active ingredient in coffee, participants had a benefit when they drank decaf as well, leading to a suggestion that a component in the coffee itself is beneficial.

Coffee contains antioxidants, which according to Karen Collins, a nutrition adviser, is the key to its contribution to health.

There was no corresponding good news over cancer deaths associated with coffee consumption, however more studies are planned.

Researchers are stopping short of recommending coffee consumption for the health benefits.

Dentists will tell you that coffee does stain teeth, and for those suffering from osteoporosis, too much coffee causes calcium to leech from the body. 

Consuming four cups of coffee a day is bad news for diabetics according to a new study by Duke University.

Among the caffeine users, researchers saw glucose levels rise by eight percent.  Compare that to consuming a meal such as dinner when blood sugars grow by about 26 percent

And a published study by researchers at Kaiser Permanente earlier this year, followed more than 1,000 pregnant women and showed that having caffeinated coffee during pregnancy, particularly more than two cups of coffee daily, nearly doubled the risk of miscarriage when compared to women who did not drink coffee.  #