Coffee Consumption Linked to Decrease in Cardiovascular Risk

Laura Stevens

New research puts more weight on the value coffee has on reducing cardiovascular risks.

A team, led by Laura M. Stevens, Computational Bioscience Program, Department of Pharmacology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical School, investigated the diet domain in a trio of cardiology studies to identify any potential lifestyle and behavioral factors linked to coronary heart disease, heart failure, and stroke.

Coronary heart disease, heart failure, and stroke all are diseases with multiple phenotypes.

While there are many known risk factors for cardiac diseases, researchers believe there are ways to improve risk assessment and patient adherence to cardiac event prevention guidelines.

The researchers used data from the Framingham Heart Study (FHS), Cardiovascular Heart Study (CHS), and the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC).

Machine Learning

In the FHS, the team used machine learning feature selection based on random forest analysis, which enabled them to identify potential risk factors linked to coronary heart disease, heart failure, and stroke.

The researchers also evaluated the significance of selected variables using univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazards analysis adjusted for known cardiovascular risks.

Ultimately, the finding from the Framingham study were validated using the Cardiovascular Heart Study and the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities trials.

Multiple Risk Factors Identified

The investigators identified multiple dietary and behavioral risk factors for cardiovascular disease outcomes, including marital status, red meat consumption, whole milk consumption, and coffee consumption.

However, for these dietary variables, increasing coffee consumption was linked to decreasing the long-term risk of heart failure congruently in all 3 included studies.

“Higher coffee intake was found to be associated with reduced risk of HF in all three studies,” the authors wrote. “Further study is warranted to better define the role, possible causality, and potential mechanism of coffee consumption as a potential modifiable risk factor for HF.”

Type of Coffee

Researchers have long studied what the impact of coffee could be on various organ systems.

While the determination that consumption of coffee is beneficial or harmful depends on the study, researchers in 2019 explored how brewing method might play a role in coffee’s impact on cardiovascular disease and mortality.

Using survey data from more than 500k individuals between the ages of 20-79 years old, a team of European investigators have concluded consumption of filtered coffee could reduce risk of cardiovascular disease and death while also indicating coffee consumption, in general, did not raise the risk of death except in older men drinking unfiltered coffee.

Upon analysis, results indicated filtered coffee was preferred by 59% of participants while 20% preferred unfiltered, 9% consumed both, and 12% did not drink coffee. Investigators noted total cholesterol and number of cigarettes per day was lowest among those who did not drink coffee and highest in the unfiltered group.

Compared to men who did not drink coffee, results of multivariable-adjusted analyses indicated men consuming unfiltered (HR 0.96; 95% CI, 0.91—1.01), filtered (HR 0.85; 95% CI, 0.82–0.90), or both types of coffee (HR 0.84; 95% CI, 0.79–0.89) were at lower risk of death. Similarly, women consuming unfiltered (HR 0.91; 95% CI, 0.86–0.96), filtered (HR 0.85; 95% CI, 0.81–0.90), or both types of coffee (HR 0.79; 95% CI, 0.73–0.85) were at a lower risk of death than those who did not drink coffee.

The study, “Association Between Coffee Intake and Incident Heart Failure Risk,” was published online in Circulation: Heart Failure.