Does coffee fight or fuel your heart disease risk?

Sometimes, caffeine makes you feel like Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic… the king of the world!

You’re energetic, inspired, creative, productive and sharp as an electronically sharpened pencil. But drink too much caffeine… and things take an unfortunate turn…

You get anxious, jittery and it feels like your heart’s beating out of your chest. Hopefully, it only takes one severe case of the coffee jitters to inspire a more careful approach to your caffeine consumption.

But what if it doesn’t? What if you keep drinking coffee even though it triggers this anxious, jittery, heart-fluttery feeling? Is it bad for your health? Or more specifically, your heart?

That’s a question scientists keep trying to answer. It’s common knowledge that coffee increases heart rate. But how does your daily cup impact your ticker over the long term?

Past studies haven’t always painted a pretty heart health picture for coffee drinkers. In fact, one recent study connected coffee to heart disease. But a new study shows coffee drinkers are probably in the clear from a heart-health perspective…

Coffee drinkers have clear, healthy arteries

Earlier this a year, a study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people who drink six or more cups of coffee per day had a 22 percent higher risk of heart disease. And really, this isn’t a huge surprise…

Caffeine raises blood pressure and increases heart rate (i.e. makes your heart work harder). It’s easy to see how that could be bad for your heart over the long term. But before you box up your coffee maker and go on an herbal tea shopping spree, you need to hear about the latest study on coffee and heart health…

This study, which was presented at the British Cardiovascular Society (BCS) Conference, found that drinking coffee doesn’t cause your arteries to stiffen (a risk factor for heart disease).

The study included more than 8,000 people who reported their coffee consumption and had MRI heart scans and infrared pulse wave tests.

In the end, there was no difference in arterial stiffness between people who drank less than one cup of coffee a day and those who drank as much as 24 (?!?) cups per day.

Perfecting your caffeine consumption

So, you may not have to retire your coffee maker, after all. In fact, there’s research showing coffee even offers slight heart benefits… like the 2017 study that found coffee reduces the risk of heart failure by seven percent and stroke by eight percent.

But exactly how much coffee should you drink?

Related: For percolated perks, drink this much coffee

Drinking 24 cups of coffee per day may be pushing your luck. Drinking a few cups per day, however, seems safe based upon the available research.

But don’t just rely blindly on scientific research to figure out how much coffee to drink. Pay attention to how caffeine makes you feel too…

Do you feel good after one cup but jittery after two? Can you down three cups no problem but feel your heart pumping when you drink more than five? Listen to your body. It’s no fun feeling like your heart’s about to explode, after all… whether it’s doing long-term damage or not.

Editor’s Note: It’s time you heard the truth about today’s “popular” heart treatments — the truth you won’t find at your doctor’s office. PLUS, discover new natural secrets that don’t require a prescription! Before you submit to any heart treatment, do this ONE thing: Read this FREE report…

Sources:

1. How much coffee is too much? — CNN
2. Coffee not as bad for heart and circulatory system as previously thought — Queen Mary University of London