Drinking three cups of coffee a day will not only give you a boost of energy, it could also be the sweet spot for keeping your heart healthy, scientists have discovered.
While drinking too much caffeine can keep you awake at night, in moderate amounts it could reduce the risk of cardiometabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and stroke.
Researchers in China revealed that drinking approximately 200 to 300 mg of caffeine per day (the equivalent of three cups of coffee) was associated with a lower risk of new-onset cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CM), or at least two cardiometabolic diseases.
In fact, scientists found that those who drink this daily amount of caffeine see their risk reduced by almost half, compared to those who drink less than one cup of coffee a day.
In moderate amounts, coffee may reduce the risk of cardiometabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and stroke.
He studypublished in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, reached this conclusion using data from the UK Biobank.
The Biobank recruited more than half a million people aged 37 to 73 in the UK between 2006 and 2010 and collected a large amount of data.
From these figures, the researchers excluded people who had ambiguous information about how much tea, coffee or caffeine they consumed.
Participants’ heart disease outcomes were identified from self-reported medical conditions, primary care data, linked hospital data, and death records linked to the UK Biobank.
The sweet spot was found to be between 200 mg and 300 mg of caffeine per day; For context, a cup of instant coffee contains about 100 mg, a cup of tea contains about 47 mg, while energy drinks can contain 80 mg of caffeine in a small 250 ml can.
Although all people who drank coffee and caffeine had a lower risk of developing new cardiometabolic diseases, those who reported drinking about three cups a day had the lowest risk, the study found.
The sweet spot was found to be between 200 mg and 300 mg of caffeine per day. For context, a cup of instant coffee contains around 100 mg, a cup of tea contains around 47 mg, while energy drinks can contain 80 mg of caffeine in a small 250 ml can.
“The findings highlight that promoting moderate coffee or caffeine consumption as a dietary habit in healthy people could have far-reaching benefits for CM prevention,” said study lead author Chaofu Ke of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the School. of Public Health at Suzhou College of Medicine, Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
However, the study also noted that people who drank more coffee were older, male, and more likely to exercise.
They were also more likely to eat less processed meat, but fewer vegetables.
The study authors adjusted for these and many other factors in their analysis, including alcohol intake, BMI, and kidney function, to try to separate the effects of the co-founding factors.
To find out why three cups of coffee is the perfect number, the study authors also analyzed blood samples from 168 participants and examined metabolites: small molecules produced when the body breaks down food.
The researchers found that in 80 of the participants who drank the most coffee, their metabolites were significantly different from those who drank much less.
Some of these metabolites are associated with better health and others with worse, said Dr. Francis Perry Wilson of Yale School of Medicine. medscape.
Breaking down the results, he explained that it shows that the intake of coffee, tea or caffeine has a large impact on the metabolites of very low density lipoproteins (VLDL), a type of bad cholesterol.
Caffeine appears to reduce it, which is good for our health because higher levels can lead to heart disease, suggesting that coffee could help protect us from it.
Although drinking caffeine has proven health benefits, some people are more sensitive than others and may experience palpitations. If you experience this, the British Heart Foundation suggests you avoid caffeine.
The British Dietetic Association (BDA) advises that most people can safely consume up to 300 mg of caffeine per day.
This is because studies indicate that an intake of more than 600 mg per day causes insomnia, nervousness, irritability, increased blood pressure and upset stomach.
But if you are pregnant you should not consume more than 200mg of caffeine a day, as this could increase the risk of miscarriage or low birth weight, the NHS warns.