Interesting info for coffee drinkers
Six cups a day okay, says new study
by Sharon Kirkey
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscriber/health/story/4187495p-4777945c.html
Drinking large amounts of coffee -- up to six cups a day -- doesn't increase the risk of an early death and appears to protect women from fatal heart attacks and stroke, new research suggests.
Harvard School of Public Health researchers looked at coffee drinking and the risk of dying from heart disease, cancer or any other cause. They found that people who drank more coffee were less likely to die during 18 years of follow-up in men, and 24 years of follow-up in women.
And the effect was strongest in women: Those who drank two to five cups of coffee a day were up to 26 per cent less likely to die than abstainers -- mainly because of a lower risk of death from heart disease.
Women who drank two to three cups of caffeinated coffee daily were 25 per cent less likely to die from cardiovascular disease than "non-consumers."
Those who drank more -- four to five daily cups of coffee -- saw their odds fare even better, to 34 per cent reduced risk.
Researchers found similar patterns for men, but the numbers didn't reach statistical significance, meaning they may be due to chance.
The team found no association between coffee drinking and dying of cancer in either gender.
Published in this week's Annals of Internal Medicine, the new study suggests that "coffee drinkers can be reassured that coffee doesn't increase the risk of death," says Esther Lopez-Garcia, the study's lead author, who is with the department of preventive medicine and public health at Universidad Autonoma de Madrid.
People who drank large amounts of decaffeinated coffee also had slightly lower death rates, suggesting it's something other than the caffeine in coffee at work.
Lopez-Garcia isn't recommending people drink more coffee to live longer. "It's too early to say coffee is beneficial for health," she says.
The study involved healthy people; those with chronic diseases were excluded.
What's more, the journal's editors caution that "there might be something else about coffee drinkers that protects them" and that the researchers can't be certain that coffee decreases the chances of dying sooner.
But Lopez-Garcia says compounds in coffee have been shown to have strong antioxidant activity that reduce inflammation in the body and improves function in artery walls.
Her team's study is based on 41,736 male health professionals, and 84,214 women from the Nurses' Health study, dubbed the "grandmother" of all women's health studies.
The men and women completed questionnaires every two to four years that asked, among other things, how much coffee they drank and other diet and lifestyle habits. All were free of cardiovascular disease or cancer at the start of the study.
There were 6,888 deaths among men, and 11,095 deaths among women over the study period.
After taking body size, smoking, diet and other risk factors into account, the researchers found that regular coffee consumption is not associated with increased deaths. The finding wasn't as strong in men as it was in women. That may be because there were fewer men, and they were younger, so there were fewer deaths.
The study, supported by the U.S. National Institute of Health, involved researchers from Harvard School of Public Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Universidad Autonoma de Madrid.
by Sharon Kirkey
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscriber/health/story/4187495p-4777945c.html
Drinking large amounts of coffee -- up to six cups a day -- doesn't increase the risk of an early death and appears to protect women from fatal heart attacks and stroke, new research suggests.
Harvard School of Public Health researchers looked at coffee drinking and the risk of dying from heart disease, cancer or any other cause. They found that people who drank more coffee were less likely to die during 18 years of follow-up in men, and 24 years of follow-up in women.
And the effect was strongest in women: Those who drank two to five cups of coffee a day were up to 26 per cent less likely to die than abstainers -- mainly because of a lower risk of death from heart disease.
Women who drank two to three cups of caffeinated coffee daily were 25 per cent less likely to die from cardiovascular disease than "non-consumers."
Those who drank more -- four to five daily cups of coffee -- saw their odds fare even better, to 34 per cent reduced risk.
Researchers found similar patterns for men, but the numbers didn't reach statistical significance, meaning they may be due to chance.
The team found no association between coffee drinking and dying of cancer in either gender.
Published in this week's Annals of Internal Medicine, the new study suggests that "coffee drinkers can be reassured that coffee doesn't increase the risk of death," says Esther Lopez-Garcia, the study's lead author, who is with the department of preventive medicine and public health at Universidad Autonoma de Madrid.
People who drank large amounts of decaffeinated coffee also had slightly lower death rates, suggesting it's something other than the caffeine in coffee at work.
Lopez-Garcia isn't recommending people drink more coffee to live longer. "It's too early to say coffee is beneficial for health," she says.
The study involved healthy people; those with chronic diseases were excluded.
What's more, the journal's editors caution that "there might be something else about coffee drinkers that protects them" and that the researchers can't be certain that coffee decreases the chances of dying sooner.
But Lopez-Garcia says compounds in coffee have been shown to have strong antioxidant activity that reduce inflammation in the body and improves function in artery walls.
Her team's study is based on 41,736 male health professionals, and 84,214 women from the Nurses' Health study, dubbed the "grandmother" of all women's health studies.
The men and women completed questionnaires every two to four years that asked, among other things, how much coffee they drank and other diet and lifestyle habits. All were free of cardiovascular disease or cancer at the start of the study.
There were 6,888 deaths among men, and 11,095 deaths among women over the study period.
After taking body size, smoking, diet and other risk factors into account, the researchers found that regular coffee consumption is not associated with increased deaths. The finding wasn't as strong in men as it was in women. That may be because there were fewer men, and they were younger, so there were fewer deaths.
The study, supported by the U.S. National Institute of Health, involved researchers from Harvard School of Public Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Universidad Autonoma de Madrid.