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Is Coffee—Gulp—Good for You?
by
Anne Szustek
After years of hearing about the morning cup’s detrimental effects, a spate of recent studies may give coffee drinkers a reason to perk up.
30-Second Summary
A group of researchers led by the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid’s Esther Lopez-Garcia tracked the coffee-drinking habits of 84,214 American women from 1980 to 2004 and of 41,736 U.S. men from 1986 to 2004. All of the subjects worked in the medical profession and had no reported background of cardiovascular disease or cancer.
The study, published Monday, defined regular coffee drinking as “up to six cups a day” and showed no detrimental health effects to regular coffee drinkers. Quite the contrary: “It seems like long-term coffee consumption may have some beneficial effects,” Lopez-Garcia told Reuters.
Indeed, women participating in the study who said they consume two to three cups of coffee a day showed a 25-percent lower risk of death from heart disease than women in the study who did not drink coffee. Men showed a similar trend, but their decrease in risk was marginal.
Other studies of late have shown evidence that coffee consumption wards off dementia as well as liver and ovarian cancer.
But, as in the words of the editors of Lopez-Garcia’s study, which ran in this month’s Annals of Internal Medicine, “The relationship between coffee consumption and all-cause mortality remains unclear.”
See Insider Medicine coverage
The study, published Monday, defined regular coffee drinking as “up to six cups a day” and showed no detrimental health effects to regular coffee drinkers. Quite the contrary: “It seems like long-term coffee consumption may have some beneficial effects,” Lopez-Garcia told Reuters.
Indeed, women participating in the study who said they consume two to three cups of coffee a day showed a 25-percent lower risk of death from heart disease than women in the study who did not drink coffee. Men showed a similar trend, but their decrease in risk was marginal.
Other studies of late have shown evidence that coffee consumption wards off dementia as well as liver and ovarian cancer.
But, as in the words of the editors of Lopez-Garcia’s study, which ran in this month’s Annals of Internal Medicine, “The relationship between coffee consumption and all-cause mortality remains unclear.”
See Insider Medicine coverage
Headline Link: ‘No Higher Death Risk in Long-term Coffee Drinking’
The research team reported that consumption of both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee had connections to a lower risk of heart disease.
Source: Reuters
Background: Coffee studies play good cup, bad cup
Good cup
Earlier this year a study concluded that a daily cup of coffee could ward off dementia. A team of researchers reported in the Journal of Neuroinflammation that when rabbits were given a caffeine supplement, “a vital barrier” between the brain and the main blood supply was protected from the dementia-causing damage cholesterol can inflict.
Source: findingDulcinea
A series of studies conducted in Europe and Japan in 2007 showed that regular coffee consumption could reduce the risk of liver cancer by as much as 41 percent, compared to people who never drank coffee. Animal research has showed that certain compounds in coffee may block harmful enzymes involved in cancer development.
Source: Reuters
Scientists also recently discovered that caffeine may play a role in reducing the risk of ovarian cancer. In the March 1, 2008, issue of the journal Cancer, researchers at the Harvard Medical School and School of Public Health reported: “The possibility that caffeine may reduce ovarian cancer risk, particularly for women who have not previously used exogenous hormones, is intriguing and warrants further study, including an evaluation of possible biological mechanisms.”
Source: Science Daily
Bad cup
A study published in January showed that pregnant women who drank more than two cups of coffee per day had nearly double the risk of miscarriage than women who drank no caffeine. But the findings—the result of a two-year study—did not provide any definitive answers on how much caffeine is safe to drink during pregnancy. Previous research found moderate caffeine intake during pregnancy was perfectly safe.
Source: ABC News
Recent research suggests caffeine could cause problems by raising blood sugar levels in type-two diabetics. In a study, glucose levels rose by 8 percent when participants took pills filled with the level of caffeine in four cups of coffee. Past research, however, suggested the antioxidants in coffee could prevent diabetes in women. The answer to the confusing findings? “Keep coffee consumption under control,” said one researcher.
Source: HealthDay
Reference: The Madrid study; guides to caffeine and coffee
The Universidad Autonoma de Madrid’s study was published in this month’s Annals of Internal Medicine. The abstract is available for free and the full text of the article is available to subscribers.
Source: Annals of Internal Medicine
FindingDulcinea’s Web Guide to Coffee covers coffee history, how to grow, roast and brew your own coffee, and where to buy coffee beans online.
Source: findingDulcinea
MedlinePlus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, has a guide to caffeine that includes the basics as well as the latest in caffeine news.
Source: MedlinePlus
The Mayo Clinic provides a common-sense guide called “Caffeine: How much is too much?” that offers suggestions on when to cut caffeine use, and helpful ways to curb consumption.
Source: Mayo Clinic
Related Topic: ‘The Foodie: A Good Cup of Coffee’
For years, coffee has meant far more than your basic cup of joe; aficionados carefully judge its foam, froth, mouth feel, scent and presentation. FindingDulcinea pays tribute to the art of coffee and its most successful artists.
Source: findingDulcinea
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