Caffeine & Coffee / Coffee and the Heart

A study from Norway has found that coffee drinkers who quit drinking caffeinated filtered coffee cut their blood levels of cholesterol and the amino acid homocysteine.

High levels of both substances are known risk factors for heart disease.

Previous research found a similar effect with boiled coffee, which is not filtered and therefore contains more of the naturally occurring organic compounds found in coffee grounds. Some of these compounds, called terpenoids, are known to increase cholesterol levels.

But the question of whether coffee increases heart disease risk has been controversial, with some, but not all, studies showing a link between coffee drinking and an increased risk.

It is not only unfiltered coffee, but notably normal filtered coffee that affects cholesterol and homocysteine, researchers found.

If your cholesterol or homocysteine level is too high and you are a heavy coffee drinker you should consider reducing your consumption, the study authors suggest.

The researchers evaluated blood samples from nearly 200 non-smoking coffee drinkers. The otherwise healthy volunteers were randomly split into three groups. One group consumed no coffee, another drank between 1 and 3 cups of coffee per day and the third group drank more than 4 cups of coffee each day.

The study period lasted for 6 weeks and each participant gave blood samples at the beginning of the study, after 3 weeks and at the end of the study period.

All of the coffee drinkers used standard coffee brewing methods, including coffee filters, the authors note.

After 6 weeks, participants who abstained from consuming coffee showed a 10% decrease in homocysteine levels. The findings indicate that the terpenoids that cause an elevated concentration of total cholesterol are only partly removed by a coffee filter.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition August 23, 2001;74:302-307