London, Europe Brief News – Drinking two to three cups a day of most types of coffee may protect you from cardiovascular disease and an early death, a new study found.
“The results suggest that mild to moderate intake of ground, instant and decaffeinated coffee should be considered part of a healthy lifestyle,” said study author Peter Kistler, head of clinical electrophysiology research at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute and head of electrophysiology at Alfred Hospital in Melbourne.
Researchers found “significant reductions” in the risk for coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure and stroke for all three types of coffee. However, only ground and instant coffee with caffeine reduced the risk for an irregular heartbeat called arrhythmia.
Decaffeinated coffee did not lower that risk, according to the study published Wednesday in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
Prior studies have also found moderate amounts of black coffee — between 3 and 5 cups daily — can lower the risk of heart disease, as well as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, type 2 diabetes, liver disease and prostate cancer.
“This manuscript adds to the body of evidence from observational trials associating moderate coffee consumption with cardioprotection, which looks promising,” said Charlotte Mills, a lecturer in nutritional sciences at the University of Reading in the UK, in a statement.
However, this study, like many in the past, was only observational in nature. Therefore, it cannot prove a direct cause and effect, added Mills.
The fact that both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee was beneficial “might suggest that it is not simply the caffeine which could potentially explain any associated reduction in risk,” said Duane Mellor, a registered dietitian and senior teaching fellow at Aston University Medical School in Birmingham in the UK, in a statement. He was not involved in the study.
