Coffee causes heart disease? That many cups will even make you healthier

Coffee is bad for the heart, but good for the brain? Research disagrees. However, a recent study refutes the assumption that coffee promotes cardiac arrhythmia. The opposite is even the case – as long as a maximum quantity is not exceeded.

The Germans love tradition: we prefer to drink our pick-me-up as filter coffee, and we sip an average of 162 liters a year. This makes coffee our absolute favorite drink. But should we really be drinking that much coffee? Many have a bad conscience about their health. The conviction that the caffeinated beans are a strain on the heart and a risk factor for heart attacks and strokes is too deep-seated.

Coffeeholics should therefore be particularly pleased about the latest findings: studies confirm that the hot drink has a much more positive effect on the brain, the metabolism and even on the heart and circulatory system. A recent example: a study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.

According to this, coffee does not increase the risk of cardiac arrhythmias, as is often assumed – in the study of 386,000 test persons, each additional cup to the usual amount reduced the risk of such a dangerous out-of-beat heart rate by as much as three percent.

Coffee: the quantity makes the poison

It’s not a free ticket for endless coffee. Because as with everything: the amount makes the poison – or the positive effect. In addition, not everyone can tolerate the black brew and its active ingredients, especially caffeine and chlorogenic acid. This doesn’t only apply to children, who don’t like the bitter brew anyway. Some adults are not genetically equipped to enjoy coffee.

In most cases, however, it is a question of quantity whether coffee triggers heart palpitations or stomach pains. Quality also plays a role: Those who pay attention to high-quality beans not only score points in terms of taste.

Coffee and health: that’s what studies say

However, many studies have already shown that coffee can be beneficial to health. In 2017, scientists from the University of Edinburgh published the results of 201 overview studies on coffee and health in the “British Medical Journal”. Overall, they found 19 positive effects on health. In contrast, there were only six negative effects.

According to the study, “Roasted coffee is a complex mixture of over 1,000 bioactive compounds with potentially therapeutic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects.” That sounds a lot more positive than the chilling myths that abound about coffee.

When is the best time to drink my coffee?

Coffee is a stimulant for body and mind. Because: On the one hand, caffeine constricts the vessels, the heart has to pump the blood with more pressure, the brain and the rest of the body are optimally supplied with blood. On the other hand, caffeine blocks the neurotransmitter adenosine in the brain, which makes you sleepy.

However, neuroscientist Steven Miller from Maryland believes that drinking coffee at the wrong time does not have the stimulating effect. If the cortisol level in the body and thus the natural level of alertness is at its highest between eight and nine in the morning, for example, caffeine can do little. It’s similar between 12 and 1 p.m. and 5:30 and 6:30 p.m., Miller says. The ideal time for a stimulating cup of coffee is therefore in the morning between 9.30 and 11.30 a.m.

Three to four cups have the best effect

The European Food Safety Authority states that 400 milligrams of caffeine a day is completely safe when it comes to our health. A 100 milliliter cup of coffee contains between 50 and 60 milligrams.

Positive coffee effects are highest with three to four cups. Larger amounts harm very few people, but they also bring no further benefit. This summary should make some people happy. After all, several cups of coffee a day are the order of the day for many people.

Even decaffeinated coffee develops a positive effect, albeit much weaker. This is due to the antioxidants contained in coffee, above all the chlorogenic acids. They add flavor but are also extremely effective against free radicals.

Limit coffee consumption if you have pre-existing conditions

Nevertheless, not everyone should consume coffee without hesitation. Studies suggest that the heart risk from coffee is much lower than has long been attributed to the coffee bean infusion. Coffee consumption seems to have little effect on blood pressure. However, the results of the individual studies are not uniform.

In general, a 2019 review article by US researchers in the Journal of the American Heart Association concluded that coffee does not increase the risk of heart disease. But does that really apply to everyone?

Six cups of coffee a day can be bad for your health

Australian researchers looked at data from around 350,000 people aged 37 to 73 in 2019 and found that too much caffeine does become a heart risk. “Six cups is the tipping point at which coffee has a negative impact on cardiovascular disease risk,” the authors write in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

A meta-study conducted at Harvard with a total of almost 1.3 million participants came to a similar conclusion: people who drank between three and four cups of coffee a day had the lowest risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease. Anyone who consumed five or more cups of coffee a day had an increased risk. But by far the greatest risk of developing cardiovascular disease was in people who didn’t drink any coffee at all.