Moderate daily coffee consumption could help to prevent coronary calcium, a build-up of which leads to heart attacks, according to a study published today.
People drinking between three and five cups a day had the least risk, according to research by international team of researchers led by the Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Seoul, in the Republic of Korea.
British experts said people should "take care" before assuming the findings apply to non-Koreans.
The team examined the link between coffee consumption and the presence of coronary artery calcium (CAC), which is an early indicator of coronary atherosclerosis. This is a potentially serious condition that can cause the arteries to harden and narrow, eventually triggering a heart attack or a stroke.
For the research, which is published in Heart, they studied a group of 25,138 men and women who attended a health screening examination. Their average age was 41 and none had signs of heart disease.
The participants’ screening examination included a validated food frequency questionnaire and a multidetector cardiac CT (computed tomography) to determine their coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores.
Taking risks, such as weight, alcohol consumption and family history of heart disease, into account, the researchers estimated the CAC score ratios associated with different levels of coffee consumption compared with no coffee consumption.
The average consumption of coffee was 1.8 cups per day and the prevalence of detectable CAC was 13.4% among the whole group.
The calcium ratios were 0.77 for people who drank less than one cup per day, 0.66 for those who took one to three cups every day, and 0.59 for those who drank between three and five cups per day. For those who had at least five cups, their calcium rations were 0.81 for people compared with those who did not drink coffee.
The researchers say that it is possible that chronic coffee consumption had a possible link to reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, a strong risk factor for atherosclerosis, and that coffee drinking might improve insulin sensitivity and ß-cell function.
“Our study adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that coffee consumption might be inversely associated with CVD [cardiovascular disease] risk,” write the authors.
“Further research is warranted to confirm our findings and establish the biological basis of coffee’s potential preventive effects on coronary artery disease.”
Victoria Taylor, of the British Heart Foundation, warned: “While this study does highlight a potential link between coffee consumption and lower risk of developing clogged arteries, more research is needed to confirm these findings and understand what the reason is for the association.
“We need to take care when generalising these results because it is based on the South Korean population, who have different diet and lifestyle habits to people in the UK.”
Coffee consumption and coronary artery calcium in young and middle-aged asymptomatic adults. Heart 3 March 2015; doi 10.1136/heartjnl-2014-306663 [abstract]
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