How clean are your arteries? Regular coffee consumption may help

How clean are your arteries? Regular coffee consumption may help

Moderate daily consumption of coffee may lead to lowered risk of heart disease, a South Korean study finds.

A study of 25,000 South Korean office workers revealed that moderate coffee consumption – three to five cups a day – could lead to lower risk of clogged arteries and the development of heart disease.

The data was compiled from male and female employees who underwent routine health checks at their places of business. Medical scans from the health checks were used to assess heart health – specifically, researchers were looking for any degradation of the coronary arteries, which supply the heart.

In coronary heart disease, these arteries become clogged by the gradual accumulation of fatty material within their walls. Researchers used a scan to search for minuscule calcium deposits in the artery walls, which serves as an early warning that the disease may be imminent.

While none of the employees in the Korean study had visible signs of heart disease, more than one in 10 of them had calcium deposits on their scans.

The scan results were then measured against the self-reported daily coffee consumption of the employees, while considering other potential heart risk factors, which include smoking, exercise and family history of heart problems.

Those who drank three to five cups of coffee a day were apparently less likely to show calcium deposits in their coronary arteries than those who drank more than this, or no coffee at all.

The findings reopen the discussion about whether coffee really is good for the heart – no conclusive evidence has been determined either way, and study authors assert that more research is needed to confirm and explain the potential link between coffee consumption and lower risk of calcium deposits in the coronary arteries.

“While this study does highlight a potential link between coffee consumption and lower risk of developing clogged arteries, more research is needed to confirm these findings and understand what the reason is for the association,” said Victoria Taylor of the British Heart Foundation.

“We need to take care when generalising these results because it is based on the South Korean population, who have different diet and lifestyle habits to people in the UK.”

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