Drinking instant coffee, espresso increases heart attack risk

Norwegian scientists looked at how drinking coffee affects the amount of cholesterol that builds up in the blood and causes blockages that lead to heart disease.

More than 20,000 participants answered questionnaires about how much coffee they drank and what they liked. Meanwhile, the scientists analyzed their blood cholesterol.

Coffee consumption was divided into groups: no cup at all, 1-2 cups, 3-5 cups, more than 5 cups per day. Types of coffee include non-drink, filter, pot, espresso, instant.

The scientists found that women drink an average of less than four cups of coffee a day, while men drink an average of nearly five cups. There was no standard cup size in the study.

Thus, both men and women have an average coffee consumption in the group of 3-5 cups/day. For this group, filter coffee raised cholesterol the least, increasing only 0.04 and 0.07 mmol per liter.

In contrast, pot-brewed coffee increased cholesterol by 0.25 and 0.18mmol per liter.

Machined espresso increased cholesterol by 0.16 and 0.09mmol per liter, and instant coffee increased it by 0.08 and 0.1 mmol, respectively, for men and women.

The numbers are small but important, the scientists say, “because people consume a lot of coffee, the health effects of even a small cup of coffee can have significant health consequences. strong”.

“This reinforces previous recommendations to reduce drinking coffee because of its potential to raise cholesterol levels,” the authors wrote in the journal Open Heart.

Chemicals that raise cholesterol like diterpenes, cafestol and kahweol are found in all types of coffee. However, different brewing methods change the prominence of the chemical in the finished product.

Researchers can’t explain why coffee affects men more strongly than women when it comes to cholesterol levels.

Dr Dipender Gill, lecturer in Clinical and Therapeutic Pharmacology at the University of London (UK), commented: “Although the association between coffee consumption and cholesterol levels was noted to be different by sex and method of making coffee, but care must be taken in interpreting cause-and-effect.”

“For example, men who like a certain type of coffee may also have other lifestyle factors that affect their cholesterol levels.”

An Yen (According to Telegraph)