Does Coffee Consumption Raise the Risk of Heart Failure?

Coffee has a bad reputation as an unhealthy drink. One of the claims is that coffee consumption is bad for your heart health and may even lead to an increased risk of heart failure. I wanted to see whether this is indeed the case.

Past studies which analyzed the dietary habits of patients of heart failure did discover a possible link between coffee consumption and heart failure. However, this is a bit of a problematic approach as there may be many other factors which led to the heart failure these people experienced. A better way is to see how heavy coffee drinkers fare over time.

It should be noted that one past study found that drinking 5 cups or more of coffee each day may indeed contribute to a risk of heart failure.

However, two studies which I recently came across came up with contradictory findings. The two studies focused their examination on people who drink coffee regularly. The first study was conducted in Sweden and published in the American Heart Journal. This study looked at over 37,000 Swedish men age 45 and up who drink 1 to 5 cups of coffee on a daily basis. The study was conducted over a period of 9 years. The findings showed no connection between the amount of coffee these men drank and their risk of suffering from heart failure.

A second study which was conducted in Finland and published by the British Cardiac Society examined both men and women. The study looked at over 50,000 Finns age 25 and up who never suffered from heart failure before. The subjects were followed for an average time of 19 years. Again, the findings found that increased coffee consumption does not lead to a heightened risk of heart disease. In fact, in women, a low to moderate consumption was linked to a lower risk.

Good news but…

There’s no doubt that this is good news for coffee lovers. However, before you rush to drink your Mocha-latte, I want you to consider the fact that coffee, some types of it, may still be unhealthy.

If you drink coffee which is full of cream, sugar, caramel, or chocolate, you may be inviting a higher risk of heart disease due to all the calories and sugar that you’re consuming (check out this article on how coffee can make you gain weight). It can amount to quite a lot. It may be a few hundred calories extra each week (and in some cases thousands).

So, don’t blame the coffee, blame everything else that’s added to it. However, if you like your coffee plain, it seems that the fear of it causing heart failure has been wildly exaggerated. I would still drink coffee in moderation as there are addictive qualities to caffeine and I wouldn’t want you to become dependent on anything. I wouldn’t worry too much about heart failure, that’s all.