RELATED: Eating This for 2 Months Can Add Years to Your Life, New Study Finds. The research comes by way of an analysis published in the American Heart Association’s (AHA) journal Circulation in 2015. A team used data from three large studies totaling 208,501 participants that were followed up with for up to 30 years. This included a food questionnaire that tracked each person’s coffee consumption. Researchers found a direct correlation between the amount of coffee consumed—including decaffeinated coffee—and mortality, with those who drank three to five cups a day witnessing a 15 percent drop in early death for any reason. The study authors wrote that “significant inverse associations were observed between coffee consumption and deaths attributed to cardiovascular disease, neurologic diseases, and suicide.” Mounting research also shows that partaking in some daily java can help keep some of your most vital organs healthy. A study published on June 14 in the AHA’s journal Circulation: Heart Failure also analyzed three major studies that collected data on more than 21,000 adults over the span of at least a decade.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb Participants self-reported their coffee intake by indicating they had zero, one, two, or three or more cups daily. Results showed that anyone with daily caffeinated coffee intake saw a drop in their risk of long-term heart failure. But those who drank at least two cups a day saw a 30 percent decrease in heart failure compared to those who reported drinking no coffee or only one cup. RELATED: If You Drink This Much Coffee a Day, Your Heart’s in Danger, Study Finds. The team concluded that while there were some limitations, the study results could reverse some public misconceptions about coffee and cardiovascular health. “The association between caffeine and heart failure risk reduction was surprising,” David P. Kao, MD, the study’s senior author, assistant professor of cardiology, and medical director at the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, said in a statement. “Coffee and caffeine are often considered by the general population to be ‘bad’ for the heart because people associate them with palpitations, high blood pressure, etc. The consistent relationship between increasing caffeine consumption and decreasing heart failure risk turns that assumption on its head.” But he said that more research needed to be done to find out exactly how coffee factored into improved heart health when it came to the bigger picture. “There is not yet enough clear evidence to recommend increasing coffee consumption to decrease risk of heart disease with the same strength and certainty as stopping smoking, losing weight, or exercising,” he said. Another expert weighing in on the study said that even though the researchers could claim no concrete proof of coffee’s health benefits, drinking a daily cup of coffee could boost cardiovascular health under the right circumstances. “While unable to prove causality, it is intriguing that these three studies suggest that drinking coffee is associated with a decreased risk of heart failure and that coffee can be part of a healthy dietary pattern if consumed plain, without added sugar and high-fat dairy products such as cream,” Penny M. Kris-Etherton, PhD, Evan Pugh University Professor of Nutritional Sciences and distinguished professor of nutrition at The Pennsylvania State University, College of Health and Human Development, said in a statement. Besides warning that overconsumption of coffee could lead to jitteriness and sleep problems, Kris-Etherton said that java has its place in a well-balanced diet. “The bottom line: enjoy coffee in moderation as part of an overall heart-healthy dietary pattern that meets recommendations for fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat [or] non-fat dairy products, and that also is low in sodium, saturated fat, and added sugars,” she concluded. RELATED: This Supplement Can Cause Cardiac Arrest If You Take Too Much, Doctors Say.
