Drinking 25 cups of coffee a day, no more a health threat : Study

What keeps you up at night? And the answer is 'COFFEE'! However, it totally depends on your intake and taste, the way you like it! For instance, some like it as cappuccino and while others love it as Americano! Coffee lovers good news for you! As new research has suggested that 'coffee' isn't as bad for our arteries as some previous studies would suggest.

The research is from the Queen Mary University of London and has shown that drinking coffee is not associated with having stiffer arteries. It also includes the people who drink up to 25 cups a day. However, the research was presented at the British Cardiovascular Society (BCS) Conference in Manchester, led by Professor Steffen Petersen. It was part-funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

FUNCTION OF ARTERIES

The main and the basic function of arteries is to carry blood containing nutrients and oxygen from your heart to the rest of your body. If the arteries become stiff, it increases the workload on the heart and eventually increases a person's chance of having a heart stroke or attack.

The research of over 8,000 people in the UK disproves previous studies that earlier claimed drinking coffee increases arterial stiffness. Coffee consumption was broadly categorized into three groups for the study. 

1. Those who drink less than one cup a day

2. Those who drink between one and three cups a day and 

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3. Those who drink more than three. 

The exclusion was people who consume more than 25 cups of coffee a day were excluded. But no increased stiffening of arteries was associated, not even with those who drank up to this high limit when compared with those who drank less than one cup a day.

However, the associations between artery stiffness and drinking coffee measures were corrected for contributing factors like age, smoking status, gender, ethnicity, height, weight, alcohol consumption, eating habits and high blood pressure.

Out of the 8,412 participants who underwent infrared pulse wave tests and MRI heart scans the research depicted that heavy to moderate coffee drinkers were most likely to be males, smokers, and regular alcohol consumers.

Also Read: MRI can help in early detection of heart diseases

The data analyst for the research at the Queen Mary University of London, Dr. Kenneth Fung,  said that, despite the huge popularity of coffee worldwide, different reports could put people off from enjoying it. Whilst they can't prove a causal link in the study, their research indicates that coffee isn't as bad for the arteries as previous studies would suggest.

Dr. Fung further added that although their study included individuals who drink up to 25 cups a day, the average intake amongst the highest coffee consumption group was 5 cups a day. However, they would like to study these people more closely in future work so that they can help to advise safe limits.

Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, Professor Metin Avkiran said that understanding the impact that coffee has on the heart and circulatory system is something that researchers and the media have had brewing for some time. There are several conflicting studies saying different things about coffee, and it can be difficult to filter what we to believe and what not.

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