Drinking Coffee Results in Less Calcium Buildup in Arteries

Three to five cups daily may reduce risk of heart disease…

Dr. Eliseo Guallar, a professor from the department of epidemiology and medicine at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore summarized, “We found that drinking three to five cups a day was associated with less calcium build-up in the arteries.”

Guallar said that this study cannot show a direct cause-and-effect relationship between coffee and reduced calcium in the arteries, but noted that the association between these factors is very strong. Although the reasons for this association are not known, Guallar said, researchers speculated that coffee may reduce the risk for type 2 diabetes, a risk factor for hardening of the arteries.

Guallar doesn’t go so far as to recommend that people start drinking coffee just to prevent heart disease. But he did note, “People should not be concerned about coffee intake. This is a habit that is not harmful to the heart.”

The 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recently released a report saying that the health risks associated with drinking that much coffee are minimal, and having as many as five cups of coffee each day is linked to several health benefits, including a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.

For the study, Guallar’s team collected data on more than 25,000 men and women living in South Korea. Their average age was 41. None had signs of heart disease. During a yearly health exam, the participants were asked about what they ate and drank. They all had CT scans to determine how much calcium had built up in their heart arteries.

The researchers then compared calcium build-up with how much coffee participants drank. They found that as coffee consumption rose, the amount of calcium build-up declined, with those who drank three to five cups a day having the least amount of calcium build-up. Guallar said that although the study was done on people in South Korea, he expects the findings would be similar for American coffee drinkers.

The association between higher coffee consumption and lower calcium build-up was the same when the study categorized people by age, sex, smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, the researchers said.
They also took into account factors such as education, level of physical activity level, family history of heart disease and dietary consumption of fruits, vegetables, red meat and processed meats, according to the study.

The study did not differentiate between regular and decaf coffee, though the authors noted that decaf is not popular among Korean coffee drinkers.

Practice Pearls:

• As coffee consumption rose, the amount of calcium build-up declined.
• Those who drank three to five cups a day had the least amount of calcium build-up.

Eliseo Guallar, M.D., journal Heart, pub March 2 online