Coffee and Heart Attack Annals

<p>Dec 18, 2008 9:49 PM

 

from  Harvard Heart Health  Oct 2008.

 

Some coff ee drinkers worry that their

habit is a bad one—not nearly on a par

with smoking but in that general direction.

Those worries are groundless. In

the past few years, coff ee drinking has

been shown to be safe for heart attack

survivors. It offers some protection

against type 2 diabetes and gallstones.

It is not linked to the development of

heart disease. <b>Now, in the largest, longest,

and most complete study to date,

overall death rates among nonsmoking

coff ee drinkers were no higher than

they were among nonsmokers who

didn’t drink coff ee, and may even have

been a touch lower (Annals of Internal

Medicine, June 17, 2008).</b>

Drunk black and bitter, coff ee is

a calorie-free beverage brimming

with antioxidants. It eases artery damaging

inflammation and delivers

a host of substances that help the

body regulate blood sugar and dissolve

gallstones.

Of course, coffee isn’t a health food.

Th e caffeine it contains is addictive. In

some people, it causes the occasional

missed or extra heartbeat or a speedup

in the heart’s rhythm. Espresso and

other unfiltered coff ee can slightly

increase the level of harmful LDL

cholesterol.

But up to a few cups a day of regular

coff ee—we don’t include Frappuccinos

or other coff ee-fl avored sweets in this

category—is fi ne for you.</p>