Moderate coffee drinking of 3-5 cups a day may help calcium blockage in arteries. http://energytimes.com/pages/departments/0415/wellness0415.html
Something to ponder as you reach for that first steaming cup of morning joe: Coffee may actually reduce levels of an important heart disease indicator.
A team of researchers from several institutions led by Kangbuk Samsung Hospital in South Korea, noting “earlier concerns about a potential increase in cardiovascular disease risk associated with coffee consumption,” decided to compare coffee intake with coronary artery calcium scores. CAC measures the amount of calcium within the walls of arteries supplying blood to the heart; the higher one’s CAC score, the more atherosclerosis one has, which indicates a greater risk of heart disease.
The team analyzed data from 24,138 people with no signs of cardiac woes who took part in a health screening, including a CAC assessment, and completed a validated food intake questionnaire. “Moderate coffee consumption”—between three and five cups a day—was linked to “a lower prevalence of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis.”
Results were published online in the journal Heart.
In trying to account for their results the study team noted a link between regular coffee drinking and reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, a major heart risk factor.
Atherosclerosis causes arteries to become narrow and hardened. This increases the risk of heart attack, which happens when a clot blocks the narrowed artery and cuts off blood supply to the heart muscle. According to the Centers for Disease Control, coronary artery disease kills more than 370,000 Americans annually.
Something to ponder as you reach for that first steaming cup of morning joe: Coffee may actually reduce levels of an important heart disease indicator.
A team of researchers from several institutions led by Kangbuk Samsung Hospital in South Korea, noting “earlier concerns about a potential increase in cardiovascular disease risk associated with coffee consumption,” decided to compare coffee intake with coronary artery calcium scores. CAC measures the amount of calcium within the walls of arteries supplying blood to the heart; the higher one’s CAC score, the more atherosclerosis one has, which indicates a greater risk of heart disease.
The team analyzed data from 24,138 people with no signs of cardiac woes who took part in a health screening, including a CAC assessment, and completed a validated food intake questionnaire. “Moderate coffee consumption”—between three and five cups a day—was linked to “a lower prevalence of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis.”
Results were published online in the journal Heart.
In trying to account for their results the study team noted a link between regular coffee drinking and reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, a major heart risk factor.
Atherosclerosis causes arteries to become narrow and hardened. This increases the risk of heart attack, which happens when a clot blocks the narrowed artery and cuts off blood supply to the heart muscle. According to the Centers for Disease Control, coronary artery disease kills more than 370,000 Americans annually.
