3 To 5 Cups Of Coffee Could Benefit Your Heart Health

How Caffeine Affects Heart Rhythm

A review of studies published in 2013 that included over 115,000 individuals discovered drinking caffeinated beverages did not raise the risk of irregular heartbeats. However, despite these claims, many physicians still advise patients with irregular heartbeats, namely heart arrhythmias, to limit or avoid caffeinated beverages altogether.

Patients with a heart arrhythmia should switch to decaf coffee to limit the adverse effects. Some other lifestyle changes include getting regular exercise, a right amount of sleep, following a healthy diet, drinking alcohol in moderation, and losing weight if overweight or obese. It is also recommended to avoid energy drinks with caffeine entirely, as they have high doses of caffeine as well as herbal extracts that are potentially dangerous to patients with heart arrhythmias.

Coffee And Calcium Build Up

Due to a lot of conflicting evidence on the health benefits and risks of consuming coffee, a study was conducted in Korea amongst 25,138 men and women. The average age of the participants was forty-one, and none had shown any signs of heart disease.

After the participants reported their lifestyle habits, such as smoking, alcohol, food, and coffee consumption, they were given CT scans to discover how much calcium was in their coronary arteries. Calcium is not usually found in the coronary arteries, and its existence can be an early indication of coronary artery disease (CAD) and coronary heart disease (CHD). CHD is a condition in which calcium builds up in the arteries and over time, can harden or break open, causing a reduction in blood flow or clots that can result in heart attacks. The CT scans confirmed none of the participants had CHD, but more than thirteen percent had calcium in their coronary arteries. However, the study found those who drank three to five cups of coffee per day had forty percent less calcium than those who did not drink coffee.