Good news, espresso lovers, black coffee is good for your heart

Knew it.

A review of three major coffee studies has shown some promising associations between caffeine and a reduced risk of heart failure. 

Science’s relationship with coffee has been a tumultuous one, first it’s good for you, then it’s bad, then it’s good again. And as with almost everything in life after all, isn’t it about everything in moderation?

Well, a new review of three major studies suggests drinking one cup of plain, black, caffeinated coffee a day is associated with long-term reduced risk of heart disease and failure.

Benefits did not however extend to decaffeinated coffee, however.

Altogether, the research compiled the dietary information of more than 21,000 adult Americans.

One study found that the risk of heart failure decreased between 5 to 12 percent for each cup of coffee consumed each day.

Another saw the risk of heart failure was the same for drinking no to one cup of coffee per day, but the third found that when people drank two or more cups of black coffee a day, the risk of heart failure decreased by about 30 percent.

“The association between caffeine and heart failure risk reduction was surprising,” said author Dr. David Kao, medical director of the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora to CNN.

“Coffee and caffeine are often considered by the general population to be ‘bad’ for the heart because people associate them with palpitations, high blood pressure, etc. The consistent relationship between increasing caffeine consumption and decreasing heart failure risk turns that assumption on its head.”

It certainly doesn’t mean you can drink coffee to your heart’s content, however.

High levels of caffeine consumption, i.e. more than four cups or 400mg of the stimulant, are still deemed to be harmful to the body, resulting in disturbed sleep, headaches, muscle tremors, and increased heart rate.

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