Coffee and tea are good for heart health. Coffee health knowledge.

Coffee has a bad reputation when it comes to heart health, while tea is considered beneficial. Whether you drink tea or coffee, we have good news for you: coffee and tea are both good for heart health.

Coffee and health are not new topics. Seventeenth-century Europe believed coffee helped digestion and hurt the wind but caused impotence and paralysis--coffee drinking was considered bad at the time, although this was not true. Today, people are more concerned about coffee and heart health issues.

Some researchers believe coffee is bad for the heart, but others (probably coffee drinkers) constantly argue against it. Caffeine in two cups of coffee raised blood pressure by 2 to 3 mm Hg in non-habitual coffee drinkers, but not in habitual coffee drinkers. Coffee causes a short-term increase in heart rate, but it does not cause abnormal heart rate. Brewed or unfiltered coffee contains coffee oils that raise total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, but if filtered, these chemicals are not present, so most coffee has no effect on cholesterol levels. Other studies suggest coffee can cause hardening of the arteries, but others have found that two cups of coffee a day can help relax the arteries.

In a study of coffee and health effects, cardiologists focused on high blood pressure. Coffee does not cause high blood pressure. If you have high blood pressure and like coffee, you can continue drinking coffee. A large number of studies have shown no increased risk of coronary heart disease among coffee drinkers, whether they drink regular coffee (caffeinated coffee) or decaf coffee. The results of surveillance studies over 10 to 20 years provide ample evidence to conclude that coffee does not cause heart disease, but rather can be used as part of a healthy diet.

In recent years, some researchers have looked at whether coffee is harmful to people who already have coronary heart disease, that is, whether drinking coffee causes heart attacks in people with coronary heart disease. The answer is: yes, coffee causes heart attacks, but the risk is small, and it does not work for all coffee drinkers. For sedentary people, a cup of coffee in the morning may be associated with an increased risk of heart attack, but the odds are very small, if they are not habitual coffee drinkers and they have risk factors for heart disease; people with these characteristics may exaggerate changes in blood pressure and nervous system activity after drinking a cup of coffee, which can cause coronary vulnerable plaque disorders. Other studies have shown that the link between coffee and heart attacks is partly influenced by an individual's genes. A Costa Rican study found that people who metabolize caffeine slowly may have an increased risk of heart attack after drinking coffee. But overall, the risk of heart attack from coffee is so small that there is no need to worry about it.

So, how about tea? Comparing coffee and tea is difficult because tea drinkers tend to have healthier eating habits and lifestyles than coffee drinkers, so we really can't tell you which is better. Observational studies have shown that, like coffee, black tea and green tea help reduce coronary heart disease, but it generally takes 5 to 6 cups of tea a day to help reduce coronary heart disease. So what exactly should you drink? Data show that coffee and tea are not only harmless to the heart, but also beneficial. What you drink depends on your taste preferences. Avoid brewed coffee and unfiltered coffee as they increase cholesterol. If you must add sugar to your coffee, choose a low-calorie, low-fat variety.

Heart 411: The Only Guide to Heart Health You'll Ever Need (Three Rivers)

Author: Marc Gillinov, M.D., is a staff cardiac surgeon at the Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart & Vascular Institute at Cleveland Clinic and he is board-certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. Steven Nissen, M.D., is the chairman of the Robert and Suzanne Tomsich Department of Cardiovascular Medicine located on the main campus of Cleveland Clinic.

Source: Hear 411 February 7, 2012 http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/02/coffees-effect-on-the-heart-is-so-small-you-should-stop-worrying/251539/

Compiled by: Huang Wei

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