Coffee’s Impact on Heart Health

by Nate Widom

As you enter your favorite café or explore the grocery aisle, you might be taken aback by the abundant coffee options. The variety is extensive, whether you prefer sweetened, chilled, creamy, black, or something else. But coffee’s nutritional findings are just as complex as the ways to order, especially on your heart health. Let’s delve into coffee’s potential drawbacks and discuss how you can indulge as healthily as possible while protecting your cardiovascular well-being.

Complicated and Ever-changing Findings

Aside from providing the drinker with boosts of energy, coffee can provide a wealth of health benefits. It can potentially extend your lifespan while enhancing liver function and regulating glucose levels. Additionally, it can reduce the risk of developing conditions such as heart failure, type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, depression, colon cancer, Alzheimer’s, and stroke.^2,3 Furthermore, coffee is rich in antioxidants, which help protect against oxidative stress and decrease risk of various cancers, obesity, and diabetes.

But it wasn’t always this way. As new studies have continued to be published and research methods have evolved, scientists have continued to debate how healthy this widely-loved beverage really is.

To scratch the surface, in the 60s and 70s, coffee was associated with coronary artery disease and heart attacks.^4,5 In 1991, the World Health Organization even touted it as a possible carcinogen but changed its stance in 2016.⁶

In the new millennium, coffee regained a positive reputation. Numerous reviews of past studies debunked old findings, and plenty of new studies suggested benefits. Coffee is now recommended for most adults – you just have to watch your serving sizes and add-ins. The FDA states that 400mg of caffeine daily (about 2-3 cups of coffee) is safe for most people.⁷ However, the effects of caffeine vary from person to person, and some are much more sensitive than others.

Cardiovascular disease is an umbrella term for diseases that affect the heart and blood vessels. This includes heart disease, stroke, peripheral atery disease, and heart failure.¹

Effects on Your Heart, Good and Bad

Many of the studies released since 2018 have come to positive conclusions about the impacts of coffee on our heart health. One found a 15% reduced risk of heart disease, another found a 21% lower risk of stroke, and another found links to decreased risk of heart failure.²

Still, there is nuance. Coffee contains high concentrations of caffeine, which stimulates noradrenaline and norepinephrine. When consumed in moderate amounts, most people don’t experience any major adverse effects; research has even credited caffeine with reducing the risk of liver and endometrial cancer and type 2 diabetes. However, caffeine may cause some to experience irregular heartbeats and chest pains or may worsen existing cardiovascular conditions like high blood pressure and arrhythmias.

2022 Japanese study on over 18,000 people found that one cup of coffee daily did not increase cardiovascular disease risk. But, for those with severe hypertension, two or more cups a day was found to be associated with twice the risk of death. Green tea or just one cup of coffee was found to have no effect.⁸ Most recently, a 2024 study even found that 400mg of daily caffeine consumption – the FDA’s daily recommended limit – led to long-term blood pressure raising.^9,10 While it’s worth noting that we get caffeine from other sources, too, coffee is often the worst offender.

Lowering your blood pressure can usually be achieved by avoiding or limiting alcohol, tobacco, and sodium and following a healthy diet with frequent exercise.¹⁰

Coffee Prep Tips

You can implement numerous small yet impactful changes to enjoy the healthiest cup of Joe. With these tips, you can enhance the flavor of your coffee and maximize its health benefits.

Filter Your Coffee

Filtering your coffee with a paper filter may improve your heart health. A 2020 study found lower artery disease rates and deaths in those under 60 who drank 1-4 cups of filtered coffee daily. Plus, filtering coffee removes compounds called diterpenes, which raise cholesterol. Coffee prepared through methods that don’t include filtration, like French press, espresso, and “cowboy” coffee, will have 30 times more diterpenes than filtered.¹¹

Drink in the Morning

Drinking coffee in the morning may benefit the heart. One recent study followed over 40,000 adults over nearly 20 years and found that those who drank coffee in the morning were 31% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease and 16% less likely to die from any cause compared to non-coffee drinkers. Interestingly, the risk of death was not significantly different between non-coffee drinkers and those who consumed coffee throughout the day rather than in the morning exclusively. Researchers have theorized that late-in-the-day coffee drinking may disrupt melatonin and the body’s circadian rhythm, hence why it might not produce the same positive outcomes as morning coffee consumption. But more needs to be studied.¹²

Watch the Milk and Creamers

Whether brewed at home or at Starbucks, many coffee drinks are loaded with dairy-based additives to create a creamier flavor. However, the extra dairy adds a lot of calories and fat. For instance, just one ounce of heavy whipping cream will add 100 calories! If you don’t want to reduce the dairy or drink your coffee black, avoid sweetened condensed milk and heavy creams and stick to lower-fat and calorie options like skim, unsweetened almond, or soy milk.¹³

Use Natural Sweeteners

Again, whether you’re enjoying your cup of Joe at home or out and about, watch the sugar. It’s best practice to check the nutrition labels for any drink you buy at the store or café and avoid those with excess sugar or artificial sweeteners. When brewing coffee at home, you can make it taste great with natural ingredients such as cinnamon, natural cocoa, vanilla, or almond extract, stevia, or maple syrup!

The popularity of cold coffee drinks has dramatically risen over the years, and many of these drinks generally contain tons of sugar. A pumpkin swirl frozen coffee from Dunkin has 185g of sugar, the same amount as 14 of Dunkin’s glazed donuts! ¹⁶

Overall, the evidence suggests coffee is currently an excellent drink for most adults. Just be cautious about additives and understand more information is always coming out. If you suspect you might be sensitive to coffee or caffeine, it’s advisable to consult a physician.

References:

1. nhlbi.nih.gov/resources/know-differences-cardiovascular-disease-heart-disease-coronary-heart-disease
2. healthline.com/nutrition/top-evidence-based-health-benefits-of-coffee
3. hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/9-reasons-why-the-right-amount-of-coffee-is-good-for-you
4. health.harvard.edu/heart-health/does-coffee-help-or-harm-your-heart
5. cnn.com/2015/08/14/health/gallery/coffee-health-gallery/index.html
6. nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/food-features/coffee/
7. fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/spilling-beans-how-much-caffeine-too-much
8. newsroom.heart.org/news/drinking-2-or-more-cups-of-coffee-daily-may-double-risk-of-heart-death-in-people-with-severe-hypertension
9. ucdavis.edu/news/headlines/qa-what-effect-does-caffeine-have-on-your-heart/2023/12
10. healthline.com/health-news/too-much-caffeine-heart-disease-risk
11. health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/whats-the-healthiest-way-to-brew-coffee
12. escardio.org/The-ESC/Press-Office/Press-releases/morning-coffee-may-protect-the-heart-better-than-all-day-coffee-drinking
13. webmd.com/diet/ss/slideshow-healthiest-coffees
14. medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000838.htm
15. health.harvard.edu/heart-health/the-sweet-danger-of-sugar
16. nypost.com/2023/09/14/pumpkin-spice-dunkin-drink-packs-as-much-sugar-as-14-donuts/