By Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.A.C.N., C.N.S., C.B.T.
Coffee. If you’re like most people, it’s more than just a beverage. It’s a way of life, and one you probably can’t imagine changing.
In fact, a 2019 survey commissioned by the National Coffee Association said that 63 percent of U.S. adults reported drinking coffee “yesterday” – with 71 percent having downed a cup in the “past week,” and 79 percent at some point in the “past year.”
That’s a lot of joe.
I’m not as big a coffee drinker as I used to be, but I can relate. Without coffee to pick me up and get me focused, I probably wouldn’t have survived all those long shifts in the cardiac ward as a young doctor.
The Debate Over Coffee’s Health Benefits
With so many of us identifying as coffee drinkers—some might dare say “addicts”—you may wonder what effect it’s having on your health. Is it good for anything more than a shot of instant energy?
There are certainly plenty of studies out there that say it is. More than one published just this year has associated moderate coffee consumption, about three cups a day, with lower mortality. Other studies have linked it with lower risk for a range of problems, including type 2 diabetes, depression, and Parkinson’s disease.
The benefits of coffee are largely thought to be tied to its high concentration of polyphenols—antioxidant nutrients that help offset inflammation and protect against disease throughout the body. (Polyphenols are found in all plant foods and also happen to be part of the magic in my favorite health-promoting food, olive oil.)
Sounds good, right?
Maybe…or maybe not, depending on your cardiovascular status. Cardiologists traditionally have advised patients to stay away from coffee, on the assumption that its caffeine content could lead to cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, strokes, and other acute cardiac events.
To get a better sense of your potential risk or benefit, let’s take a closer look at some of the research around coffee’s specific effects on the heart.
7 Ways Coffee May Affect Your Heart
Risk of developing heart disease
According to two large meta-analyses—one including more than 400,000 cohort subjects, and the other more than 1 million—there is no association between drinking coffee and the long-term risk of developing heart disease. In fact, the first study found that moderate coffee consumption reduced this risk in women, and the second found that 3–5 cups of coffee a day reduced risk across the board.
This would seem to put to rest old fears that coffee has similar negative effects on the heart as smoking and heavy drinking. It also makes perfect sense when you account for the beneficial effect coffee has on some of the biggest risk factors for heart disease, like type 2 diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure. Reduce or eliminate those issues, and there’s less wear and tear on your heart and arteries. There’s also one recent study that suggests coffee may help protect against arterial calcification—but only in nonsmokers. (Another great reason to quit!)
Risk of cardiac-related death
If coffee drinkers are less likely to develop heart disease, you’d expect them to be less likely to die of cardiovascular events, too—and that’s exactly what the research shows. However, coffee drinkers aren’t just less likely to die from heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure. They’re also less likely to die from cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and other causes.
Where cardiovascular events are concerned, though, The Nurse’s Health Study, a long-running look at more than 80,000 women, found a specific reduction in stroke risk among women who drank 2-3 cups per week (a 19 percent reduction) and who drank 4 or more cups per week (a 20 percent reduction). Another long-running study, EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) found similar outcomes after following over a half million people for an average of 16 years. Additional research has found similar results regardless of gender.
The drop in risk may be due in part to a finding by Greek researchers that coffee improves endothelial function. When the endothelial cells lining your arteries are healthy, blood flows more easily, the heart doesn’t have to work as hard, and you’re less likely to develop atherosclerosis. Another possibility is something the EPIC researchers uncovered…Women in their study were also likely to have lower levels of lipoprotein(a), CRP, and HbA1c. These factors are all associated with artery-damaging inflammation. Both possibilities are certainly worthy of further research.
Risk of arrhythmia and irregular heartbeats
Studies continue to find no connection between caffeine and risk of arrhythmia, specifically atrial fibrillation, the most common type of serious arrhythmia. However, here I have to disagree with the science and go with my experience. When I was actively seeing patients, I saw over and over that caffeine can be problematic for people with poor heart rate variability or whose hearts are compromised by disease or a previous heart attack. I advised these patients to avoid it altogether, whether in coffee, tea, or chocolate.
Caffeine is a stimulant. When it hits the bloodstream, it turns on the sympathetic nervous system and initiates a stress response. This causes blood pressure to rise, adrenaline to be released, and instantly requires that the heart beat harder and faster. If your heart function is already less than ideal, this can be a recipe for real trouble. On the other hand, if your heart is healthy, the latest research shows that regular caffeine consumption may actually have a protective effect.
We used to think that long-term caffeine consumption could increase the probability of developing high blood pressure, but multiple studies have proven that idea to be untrue. Some even suggest the opposite – that caffeine may help protect against high blood pressure.
But what if you already have high blood pressure? This is an important question given that about 1 in 3 American adults falls into this category. The science here is mixed. An Italian study that followed more than 1,200 adults, ages 18–45, with untreated mild hypertension concluded that heavy coffee drinkers (4 or more cups a day) had four times greater risk of having a cardiac event, and moderate drinkers (1–3 cups) a three times greater risk. However, subsequent research has stated that coffee consumption is probably safe—though it should be done cautiously.
My advice here would be to listen to your body, and to drink moderately and mindfully. If you have a cup of coffee and notice that your blood pressure goes up, it’s probably best if you steer clear. The same is true if you have trouble controlling your blood pressure even when you’re not drinking coffee.
Risk of unhealthy cholesterol
There is evidence that unfiltered coffee has the power to increase LDL cholesterol. Generally I don’t take issue with LDL levels unless they exceed 300 mg/dL—so if your cholesterol is extremely elevated, make sure your brew is filtered.
Low on Magnesium? Here are 5 Signs
Risk of nutrient deficiency
Coffee will get you going—and as any avid drinker will tell you, one of the places you’ll be going is straight to the bathroom.
Caffeine is a diuretic. As such, it carries some of the same risks as more potent diuretics, including the loss of vital water-soluble nutrients like magnesium, potassium, and B vitamins. Granted, this risk is relatively small with coffee—but it’s important for patients with heart disease to be aware of it, since small deficiencies in nutrients like magnesium can have a big impact on heart function.
Risk of disturbed sleep
All coffee drinkers will probably admit to using it to stay awake at some point. Again, this is a result of caffeine’s stimulatory effect. I don’t like coffee after midday because it can linger in the body and cause restless or sleepless nights. Sleep deprivation is linked to compromised health: the body responds to it by increasing the secretion of stress hormones like cortisol, which stoke the flames of inflammation. On the other hand, research has shown that sleeping more than 7 hours a night can help you lower your risk of heart disease. If coffee is getting in the way of your being able to sleep, then I’d say it’s bad for your health.
The Sinatra Solution: Everything in Moderation
Essentially, the question of whether coffee is good or bad for you boils down to weighing the negative effects of caffeine against the protective antioxidant benefits of coffee’s polyphenols.
In my opinion, there’s nothing wrong with one or two cups of coffee a day. So if you can’t live without your daily jump start, don’t worry. Just don’t overdo it with sugar or artificial sweeteners, which can offset coffee’s benefits.
I don’t recommend too much more than that, however, since there may be some additional risk for anyone with diagnosed cardiovascular disease or a history of heart attack. The protective benefits of coffee are certainly something you want to take advantage of, but that desire needs to be weighed carefully with the downsides of caffeine.
Resources:
- Adelfattah R, et al. Does Caffeine Consumption Increase the Risk of New-Onset Atrial Fibrillation? Cardiology. 2018;140(2):106-114.
- Bodar V, et al. Coffee Consumption and Risk of Atrial Fibrillation in the Physicians’ Health Study. J Am Heart Assoc. 2019 Aug 6;8(15):e011346.
- Caldeira D, et al. Caffeine does not increase the risk of atrial fibrillation: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Heart. 2013 Oct;99(19):1383–9
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. High Blood Pressure Fact Sheet. Accessed November 14, 2019.
- Chrysant SG. The impact of coffee consumption on blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus. Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther. 2017 Mar;15(3):151-156.
- European Society of Cardiology. “Coffee linked with increased cardiovascular risk in young adults with mild hypertension.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 29 August 2015.
- Gunter MJ, et al. Coffee Drinking and Mortality in 10 European Countries: A Multinational Cohort Study. Ann Intern Med. 2017 Aug 15;167(4):236-247.
- Katan MB and Schouten E. Caffeine and arrhythmia. Am J Clin Nutr. March 2005;81(3):539–540.
- Liebeskind DS, et al. The coffee paradox in stroke: Increased consumption linked with fewer strokes. Nutr Neurosci. 2015 Jun 22. [Epub ahead of print]
- Lopez-Garcia E, et al. Coffee consumption and risk of stroke in women. Circulation. 2009 Mar 3;119(8):1116-23.
- Ming Ding MS, et al. Long-Term Coffee Consumption and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: A Systematic Review and a Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies. Circulation. 2014 Feb 11;129(6):643–659.
- Miranda AM, et al. Coffee Consumption and Coronary Artery Calcium Score: Cross-Sectional Results of ELSA-Brasil (Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health). J Am Heart Assoc. 2018 Mar 24;7(7).
- Mos L, et al. 1C.04: Coffee consumption is a predictor of cardiovascular events in young and middle aged hypertensive subjects. J Hypertens. 2015 Jun;33 Suppl 1:e10.
- National Coffee Association. Infographic: The Behaviors & Perceptions of US Coffee Drinkers. Accessed November 14, 2019.
- National Coffee Association. NCA National Coffee Data Trends 2019. 9 Mar 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019.
- Navarro AM et al. Coffee consumption and risk of hypertension in the SUN Project. Clin Nutr. 2019 Feb;38(1):389-397.
- Ngueta G. Caffeine and caffeine metabolites in relation to hypertension in U.S. adults. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2019 Apr 24. [Epub ahead of print]
- O’Keefe JH, DiNicolantonio JJ, and Lavie CJ. Coffee for Cardioprotection and Longevity. Prog Cardiovasc Dis. 2018 May-Jun;61(1):38-42.
- O’Keefe JH, et al. Effects of habitual coffee consumption on cardiometabolic disease, cardiovascular health, and all-cause mortality. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2013 Sep 17;62(12):1043–51.
- Palatini P, et al. Coffee consumption and risk of cardiovascular events in hypertensive patients. Results from the HARVEST. Int J Cardiol. 2016 Jun 1;212:131–7.
- Poole R, et al. Coffee consumption and health: umbrella review of meta-analyses of multiple health outcomes. BMJ. 2017 Nov 22;359:j5024.
- Rebello SA and van Dam RM. Coffee consumption and cardiovascular health: getting to the heart of the matter. Curr Cardiol Rep. 2013 Oct;15(10):403.
- Rodríguez-Artalejo F and López-García E. Coffee Consumption and Cardiovascular Disease: A Condensed Review of Epidemiological Evidence and Mechanisms. J Agric Food Chem. 2018 May 30;66(21):5257-5263.
- Sado J, et al. Coffee Consumption and All-Cause and Cardiovascular Mortality– Three-Prefecture Cohort in Japan. Circ J. 2019 Mar 25;83(4):757-766.
- Siasos G, et al. Consumption of a boiled Greek type of coffee is associated with improved endothelial function: the Ikaria study. Vasc Med. 2013 Apr;18(2):55–62.
- Voskoboinik A, Kalman JM, and Kistler PM. Caffeine and Arrhythmias: Time to Grind the Data. JACC Clin Electrophysiol. 2018 Apr;4(4):425-432.
- Wu JN, et al. Coffee consumption and risk of coronary heart diseases: a meta-analysis of 21 prospective cohort studies. Int J Cardiol. 2009 Nov 12;137(3):216–25.
- Zhang Z, et al. Habitual coffee consumption and risk of hypertension: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective observational studies. Am J Clin Nutr. 2011 Jun;93(6):1212–9.
© 2016, 2019 Stephen Sinatra, MD. All rights reserved.
13 Comments
Dennis Mitchell
on September 29, 2016 at 12:37 pm
Through my readings… I thought that coffee was acidic and it depletes the cells of our body and I thought that our only alternative is a healthy coffee that has taken out all the caffeine in other words there’s a coffee that has this is Ganoderma in it that has neutralized the caffeine
Dennis Mitchell
on September 29, 2016 at 12:41 pm
There is an herb called Ganoderma the king of herbs which has neutralized the caffeine in coffee this is not regular store-bought coffee from what I understand this is our only alternative to a healthy coffee we can drink this coffee while alkalizing our body instead of causing it to be acidic
George Mooradian
on September 29, 2016 at 1:09 pm
I am 88 years old. I take 1 diuretic drug for hypertension .I originally lost 13 pounds when i started about 8 months ago. i keep my weight at about 160.
I also have been taking your awesome foursome for my heart for about 3 years. Will 1 or 2 cups of decaf coffee affect my heart ? I am 5′ 10″. THANKS !
Jack Emig
on September 29, 2016 at 2:32 pm
When caffeine is removed from coffee there are many other substances that are activated. We don’t know how those other substances affect the body long term. I agree with Dr. Sinatra, all things in moderation. I suffered with an irregular heart beat ( or fibrillation) not sure which since I’m a D.I.Y. kinda guy. I know that’s not to smart but when I started taking Dr. Sinatras’ probiotic solution my problem disappeared! Caffeine doesn’t seem to bother me as long as I don’t drink it late in the evening. keeps me awake. What I want to know Dr. Sinatra, is should I use your sons’ probiotic blend along with your plantarum 299v? I ‘ve tried “blends” of probiotics in the past & had little noticeable results, other than less $ in my pocket. I’m still amazed @ the life changing results for me when I started using the plantarum 299v probiotic approximately 3 years ago ……… Thank you! literally from the bottom of my heart. Jack Emig
Dave Fuleihan
on September 29, 2016 at 4:39 pm
Dr. Sinatra,
Is it true you do not take issue with elevated LDL levels unless they exceed 300mg. I believe I read that in one of your publications.
John J Galluzzo
on October 4, 2016 at 5:22 pm
Is it better to switch to decaffeinated coffee.? I believe I read an article that decaffeinated organic tea is an excellent drink.
Tony Hart
on September 30, 2017 at 4:19 am
Is there a difference between ‘real’ coffee and instant coffee? Also, what is the effect of ‘artificial sweeteners’ compared with sugar. I take ‘Hermesetas’; just one pill. Is that good or bad?
HeartMD Editor
on October 5, 2017 at 11:09 am
Hi Tony,
Yes, there are some differences between regular brewed coffee and instant coffee. The main one being that instant coffee is more heavily processed and it goes through significant heating during processing which can create some undesirable compounds such as acrylamide. As for artificial sweeteners these articles can give you some great information (Hermesetas is a saccharin based sweetener): Think Twice Before Consuming Artificial Sweeteners and Why Artificial Sweeteners Are Bad for You
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Coffee: It Loves Me It Loves Me Not – Wannathink
Priya
on October 24, 2017 at 1:36 am
Coffee is more than just dark brown water. many of the nutrients in the coffee beans do make it into the drink. Many Thanks for sharing this article.
DG
on October 28, 2017 at 3:39 pm
Is anadextrious caffeine powder bad for your heart. I know that it is sold over the internet in a pure white powder form by the pound.
I read if you take too much a person can overdose much like hard drugs. It is legal still is it OK to ingest?
Nadir O.
on August 14, 2018 at 2:01 pm
I am 66 and was diagnosed with neuro-cardiogenic syncope, 5 years back. And I have had a leaking heart valve since long. I love coffee but never was a hard drinker, one cup a day and sometimes skipping a day or two in-between. I drink tea every day. Now for the last few years, I just can’t take even one cup of coffee without having palpitations. This has happened every time I take coffee. I fail to understand where all this research that proves that ‘Coffee is good for your heart’, comes from, except of course the major coffee brands !
Thomas H Prindle
on January 30, 2019 at 8:52 pm
Does decaf provide any of the benefits of regular coffee?