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Science

Could Drinking Coffee Lower Your Risk of Heart Failure? (nytimes.com) 73

The New York Times reports: A large analysis looked at hundreds of factors that may influence the risk of heart failure and found one dietary factor in particular that was associated with a lower risk: drinking coffee...

The analysis included extensive, decades-long data from three large health studies with 21,361 participants, and used a method called machine learning that uses computers to find meaningful patterns in large amounts of data. "Usually, researchers pick things they suspect would be risk factors for heart failure — smoking, for example — and then look at smokers versus nonsmokers," said the senior author, Dr. David P. Kao, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Colorado. "But machine learning identifies variables that are predictive of either increased or decreased risk, but that you haven't necessarily thought of."

Using this technique, Dr. Kao and his colleagues found 204 variables that are associated with the risk for heart failure. Then they looked at the 41 strongest factors, which included, among others, smoking, marital status, B.M.I., cholesterol, blood pressure and the consumption of various foods. The analysis is in Circulation: Heart Failure. In all three studies, coffee drinking was associated more strongly than any other dietary factor with a decreased long-term risk for heart failure.

Drinking a cup a day or less had no effect, but two cups a day conferred a 31 percent reduced risk, and three cups or more reduced risk by 29 percent...

Should you start drinking coffee or increase the amount you already drink to reduce your risk for heart failure? "We don't know enough from the results of this study to recommend this," said Dr. Kao, adding that additional research would be needed.

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Could Drinking Coffee Lower Your Risk of Heart Failure?

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  • ...so that'd almost be like exercising it, right?
    • by Forty Two Tenfold ( 1134125 ) on Sunday February 21, 2021 @10:55AM (#61086306)
      Garfield says yes [googleusercontent.com].
    • I was wondering if the factor was something in the coffee besides caffeine?

      I've pretty much removed caffeine from my diet, and wonder if decaf coffee would impart the same apparently heart protections?

      • by rtb61 ( 674572 )

        People who drink coffee more tend to drink lolly water less (sodas et al). Obviously because they are drinking coffee instead. You should see similar numbers for tea ie drinking tea (not lolly water grade tea, ugh) , especially a range of herbal teas (Americans are not big tea drinkers though, apart from lolly water grade tea, so no numbers appear). Now from my experience cocoa helps repair nerve damage over time but I doubt that adulterated hot chocolate would be near as effective due sugars and other crap

  • The study was not able to account for different types of coffee or brewing methods

    It matters greatly if you are drinking gnat's pee like Nescafe or something decent made from beans (possibly pre-ground) can contain 5 times as much caffeine.

    • Only five? Try filling the spoon. What kind of girlyman are you anyway?

    • This study specifically states that it does not differentiate between brewing methods or types of coffee. And calls this out as an area for further study.

      • All reputable scientific research identifies a need for further research - with grants to match.
      • "This study specifically states that it does not differentiate between brewing methods or types of coffee."

        So IOW it ignores caffeine and lots of the other ingredients and just compares the lot to people with a different ethnic background where they drink buffalo milk or Kefir.

        So the study says: It's good to be the king.

    • well.
      my cardiologist said something else.
      no dairy
      no alcohol
      lose weight
      and exercise

      • by nadass ( 3963991 )
        There's no coffee on that list.

        ON average, I drink 1 cup of home-grown/home-brewed coffee every day... black (no sugar, no cream/dairy, no alcohol). Since it's a home-brewed "1 cup" it's probably closer to 12-14 ounces rather than 6-8 oz "1 cup" referenced in article.

        By reducing the consumption of processed and dairy-related sugars (but still allowing myself any quantity of natural sugars from fresh fruits, for instance), I'm effectively managing weight loss when combined with exercise.

        I hope your
      • Great list, but it should include one more thing: stay away from assholes

      • by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

        well.
        my cardiologist said something else.
        no dairy
        no alcohol
        lose weight
        and exercise

        And my cardiologist didn't say any of that. (I have heart failure - non-ischemic, but strongly believed to be caused by the flu as I got sick and never quite recovered). And yes, COVID has me slightly concerned since long-haulers often have heart failure.

        He said to basically watch my fluid intake (fluid retention and swelling are huge problems for heart failure patients) and watch my salt intake, because salt intake leads to

  • "Could Drinking Coffee Increase Your Risk of Heart Failure?"

    Study found a barely significant effect under certain conditions in a population of college students (or mice). More research is needed.

    • More funding needed.

    • by larwe ( 858929 ) on Sunday February 21, 2021 @11:56AM (#61086472)
      "Study found that after selecting/processing data, p-values were obtained that exceeded a threshold. It has thus been proven beyond all doubt that further funding is required to investigate the real-world results of spending said funding".

      Caffeine and alcohol are probably the top two substances where "research" a) will always garner some public media exposure on a slow news day, and b) has already had so much time and funding ploughed into it that if there was truly any strong correlation to be found, it would already have been found. All further funding is simply buying larger and larger microscopes to zoom further and further in on a fractal curve; all odd-numbered research conclusions are positive, all even-numbered ones are negative, but both yearn for additional funding to kick the flip-flop back to its other state.

    • by joh ( 27088 )

      That drinking coffee lessens your risk of heart failure isn't new at all, there were numerous studies before that ended up with this conclusion.

      The "well known fact" that coffee is bad for your heart was just an idea that people got by the fact that coffee often makes people feel their heart beating harder, but there has been not ONE study that actually confirmed a higher risk for coffee drinkers. It also may have been an artifact by people drinking coffee often also smoking a lot in the past.

      But there real

    • That's why I only drink coffee every other week or two, you know, on the weeks when it's good for you!
  • Water (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Impy the Impiuos Imp ( 442658 ) on Sunday February 21, 2021 @10:57AM (#61086314) Journal

    Caffeine is a diuretic, and water pills to lower high blood pressure are a proven and standard method to reduce risk.

    It would be interesting to see if there is something besides this, like the buzzing you up part.

    • That's an interesting thought, especially since I believe about 20% of people with hypertension are not aware of it (so it wouldn't show up in the data).

      Why would 2 cups be the sweet spot though (although I'm not sure what that means - do two super strong Turkish coffees have the same affect as two pint sized mugs of instant). That bit makes it all sound a bit vague, to be honest.

      • I assume they mean a 150ml cup of americano type coffee. I'm with you, my 225ml strong brew cup is probably more like two weaker 150ml cups.

        https://cooking.stackexchange.... [stackexchange.com]

      • I dunno either, but to reduce the vagueness at least, a "standard" diner-style cup of regular coffee has about 40mg of caffeine. A regular sized 8oz can of Coca-Cola has about 60mg. A medium Starbucks mocha has something like 225mg.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Caffeine is also a vasoconstrictor so it would not help lower blood pressure.
    • if you are drinking two cups of coffee you are not drinking them in one sitting. you have some in the morning, some in the afternoon, so its always around you. if you drink coffee then you are less likely to eat fatty foods. the coffee keeps you company through the stress of the day and you dont need to pig out on chinese food, you just keep working until normal meal time. but after 2 cups the type of person to drink 3 or 4 cups A DAY. is a different kind of person maybe the type to abuse their body,
    • Caffeine raises blood pressure, although the effect is not permanent.

    • Re:Water (Score:4, Informative)

      by Rockoon ( 1252108 ) on Sunday February 21, 2021 @12:58PM (#61086618)

      Caffeine is a diuretic...

      It is also important to note that caffeine isnt the only complex molecule in a cup of coffee, just like nicotine isnt the only complex molecule in a puff of cigarette smoke.

      Of importance may also be when people drink coffee, with consumption being more frequent earlier in a persons day.

  • Maybe not (Score:3, Interesting)

    by LordHighExecutioner ( 4245243 ) on Sunday February 21, 2021 @11:00AM (#61086326)
    Decades of studies claimed that coffee is dangerous for hearth. So probably people with cardiac problems avoid drinking coffee, but this does not solve their problems. But as a side consequence, the outcome is an inverse correlation between coffee consumption and hearth failure...
    • its not an inverse. theres a flow. one cup people are different than 3 cup people. so theres a socialogical correlation. 2 cup people are replacing eating with sipping on a cup all day. that benefit flattens out because eventually you have to eat something.
    • by xonen ( 774419 )

      Well, maybe both are true. It could be that the coffee itself is bad, but that drinking coffee correlates to a more active lifestyle, which is good.

      Correlation is not causation.

    • People with cardiac problems should probably avoid running too, doesn't make it bad for everyone else.

    • by joh ( 27088 )

      No, there never were real studies concluding that coffee is dangerous for your heart. Name one.

      And yes, drinking coffee may be bad for you (or at least feel bad) if your heart already is failing. Totally different thing though. Running a marathon also is bad for your heart if it already is failing, while running all the time when you're healthy may be good for your heart. These are two very different things.

  • by nospam007 ( 722110 ) * on Sunday February 21, 2021 @11:06AM (#61086342)

    Or is it not living in countries where they drink tea?

    • I suppose it depends on what's actually causing the effect and what kind of tea is being consumed. If it is caffeine then obviously we should expect a drastic difference between black and green teas.
    • Yeah, we all know the Japanese die young of heartfailure and the Americans live forever.

  • Drinking a cup a day or less had no effect, but two cups a day conferred a 31 percent reduced risk, and three cups or more reduced risk by 29 percent

    Ok, so I need to step up my game then, and help support Juan Valdez.

  • So... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Rei ( 128717 ) on Sunday February 21, 2021 @11:26AM (#61086388) Homepage

    I'm trying to cut down on my caffeine consumption. So when I get up, I just have one cup of coffee. And I like to have another cup of coffee with my breakfast. And on my way to work, I like to get a cup of coffee. Like the kind of cup of coffee that you get with the doughnuts, but I never get the doughnuts, I just have the cup of coffee. And when I get to work, I like to have a cup of coffee, because I like to have coffee when I'm talking on the phone, but it usually goes cold, and you need to get another cup of coffee. Then it's lunch, and I have an espresso.

    And when I get back, it's not morning anymore, So I have a diet cola, and another diet cola. By then I'm feeling fine, and I'm feeling pretty sharp, and I'm feeling pretty wired and I'm getting things done. But right about two I get this little tiny migraine. It starts with my eyes, and moves to the back of my neck, and moves to the bottom of my spine. But it doesn't get there until five or six o'clock, which is the end of the day, so I'm fine. So I'm FINE. So I'm fine. Except when I have to work late.

    When I have to work late, which I usually do. ... [youtube.com]

  • by nagora ( 177841 ) on Sunday February 21, 2021 @11:27AM (#61086392)

    Just makes life worth living :)

  • by RossCWilliams ( 5513152 ) on Sunday February 21, 2021 @11:28AM (#61086398)
    Thus proving that junk science is the norm.
  • Given how it ruins your sleep patterns, makes you more angry and anti-social (in /my/ experience), and most of all: Doesn't make you any more awake than you normally were if you slept a healthy amount and with a healthy quality, unless you always raise the dosage.
    Which, of course, like with any other drug, stops working after a while... if you are lucky.

    Coffee is great if it's an exception. If it is a unusual situation that doesn't happen more than once a week.

    Otherwise it's just a waste of money that makes

    • The U.S. military has performed good studies suggesting daily use leads to better alertness and reaction. It's basically military standard issue for guard duty. So, while in general, you're probably right that drinking too much too often is just giving you an addiction, your numbers are probably off on how much and how often your coffee use needs to be to become a problem.

    • Found the Mormon.
  • Caffeine: Addicted to Poison [naturespoisons.com].

    The clinical toxicology of caffeine: A review and case study [nih.gov].
    Quoting: "While caffeine is generally thought to be safe in moderate amounts (i.e., 400mg per day) in healthy adults [13], it is clearly not an innocuous compound and can cause significant toxicity and even lethality (i.e., most commonly via myocardial infarction or arrhythmia) if sufficient quantities are consumed [13,14]. Some sensitive individuals may also experience toxicity and lethality at doses not normal
  • by dsgrntlxmply ( 610492 ) on Sunday February 21, 2021 @11:57AM (#61086474)
    I read a journal article some years ago that claimed an increased risk in patients who reported drinking traditional Swedish pan-boiled coffee, but not for some other brewing methods. Observing what people buy at Starbucks when I am stuck with that as my only coffee option, I believe most Americans buy one to three scoops of coffee ice cream either melted or reheated, but still termed "coffee". I have never seen a claim that eating any type of ice cream is good for the heart. I'll stick to espresso.
  • Wash (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Tablizer ( 95088 ) on Sunday February 21, 2021 @12:21PM (#61086522) Journal

    I've been seeing studies on Coffee for 40 plus years, and there is a rough pattern of good, bad, good, bad, good, bad, etc. Coffee is probably a wash as long as you don't drink more than 2 cups per day.

    So enjoy a nice warm cup of joe and don't think about it. You got better things to worry about.

    • by Deaddy ( 1090107 )

      So far the pattern seems to be more like good bad, good good, bad, good, good, good, bad ... the safe margin for coffee seems to raise steadily, albeit slowly, from year to year. As the safe margin raises, people will also be allowed to make studies with higher doses.

    • I've been seeing studies on Coffee for 40 plus years, and there is a rough pattern of good, bad, good, bad, good, bad, etc.

      Its not just coffee.

      Eggs were good for you, then they were bad for you, then they were good for you, ....
      Alcohol was good for you, then it was bad for you, then it was good for you, ....
      Remember when butter was bad for you but margarine was good for you, and now its the other way?

      The underlying problem is that, like the weather, a person health is a complex system of interactions, and in the modern world of processed foods their diet can change without them knowing or even suspecting it. Your favorit

      • It depends on the vitamin. Some are stored in fat, others are water-soluble and need to be refreshed more frequently. Vitamin C is notorious for needing regular doses,. The necessary doses are quite modest, but the health of sailors on long ocean voyages without dietary staples like cabbage.

    • Re:Wash (Score:4, Funny)

      by BadDreamer ( 196188 ) on Sunday February 21, 2021 @02:19PM (#61086842)

      It will be hard to stay under 2 pots of coffee a day, but I agree, it's probably worth trying.

      I will enjoy them though, for sure!

    • Coffee is probably a wash as long as you don't drink more than 2 cups per day.

      So for those of us who have ristrettos as our primary fluid consumption every day what's going to happen? Am I dead right now or will I live forever?

  • Drinking a cup a day or less had no effect, but two cups a day conferred a 31 percent reduced risk, and three cups or more reduced risk by 29 percent...

    So how many cups/day until it starts actively combating any cancer? :-) In a related note, there was a woman in my office about 10 years ago who said she only drank coffee and had at least 3 *pots" a day while at work. Can't imagine how she ever slept.

  • that life is 100% fatal! Everyone will die of something. And Smoking doesn't kill everyone, drinking doesn't kill everyone. So do what you like, eat what you like and drink what you like. What kills you will be different that what kills someone else. Heck my uncle smoked cigars and pipe his whole life and not one ounce of cancer in his body. It was alzheimers that got him. So I don't worry about what I eat or drink. When it's your time, it's your time and there is nothing you can do about it.
  • While I do find myself as being on the side that drinks coffee on an almost daily basis, I do so for the flavor rather than health benefits. Its almost a constant back and forth about the benefits of coffee and tea. Many times these studies discuss caffeine and antioxidants. Is it that caffeine is negative or that we just needs to moderate our intake? Does the caffeine actually cause individuals to urinate more or does the act of expelling fluids get offset by the amount of fluids taken in when consuming th
  • What's new and/or surprising about THIS study - other than that a lot of people haven't gotten the message over the last decade or so?

    Studies for a number of years have been showing that a few cups of coffee a day substantially increase lifespan. This was detected in large scale meta-studies and has since been shown to hold true across a large number of countries and cultures, as well as across economic groups within them.

    Coffee has several thousand bioactive molecules, though. So there's a lot of work to

  • I have also read many studies about the effect of coffee on heart failure. Some studies suggest that it is effective in keeping the heart active and healthy while some claim that the components of coffee may be hazardous. Where as it is a stimulant, i feel it also has some negative effects on blood circulation and the heart in general. Nevertheless, if one is healthy, they may engage in active exercises such as bike riding or walking to keep reducing the risk of heart failure https://bikingsmug.com/best-sp. [bikingsmug.com]
  • Allow me to suggest that while the increased heart rate from non-decaf coffee MAY exercise the heart, it has other more detrimental effects.
    How about high blood pressure? OOPS! There goes your kidneys, while giving you a stroke and blowing-up your aortic aneurysm!

    Is this a study on "How Do You Want To Die?"?

    This is all BS data likely being pushed by the coffee industry.
    I don't know of, nor ever heard of, anyone being told to drink coffee for health reasons.
    In fact, I HAVE heard of people being told t
  • Dude I used to work with said it's important to drink warm/hot stuff. I know. Hear me out. He used to say the warmth would help break it up and move it away from the hear. He also told me drinking some warm water or tea when I get the hiccups will stop them.

    Next time I had the hiccups he came by with some hot water. It stopped it right away.

    Maybe he knew something.

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