It’s a fact that I had never drunk coffee for about 40 years. What a fool of me.  I was such a victim of the myths that coffee and caffein are harmful for our cardiovascular health. After all, I started drinking coffee in the middle of 2007 after recovery from the second time kidney stone disease I’ve suffered of. You may not believe this fact and think it is somewhat  ridiculous, but it is true. In effort to overcome the second time kidney stone disease, I decided only apply natural way of therapies in which, upon  advice from an naturopath physician, I started undertaking diet according to my blood type. My blood type is B and, surprisingly, he advised me to drink arabica coffee too. According to blood type diet, coffee is not harmful for Type Bs and even  they can get its strong antioxidant properties.

It is like  heaven for me drinking extraordinary arabica:  Java, Mandheling, Kalosi , and Brazil coffee. And the important thing is: I feel so good. I am healthy more than ever. I love to share with you  of the latest good information for the coffee lover. My thankfulness to the scientists undertaken the official research below.

Good News: The Latest Research on Coffee

October 16, 2009 (Stockholm, Sweden) — No significant correlation between any daily level of coffee intake and risk of either death from or hospitalization for heart failure was observed in more than 30 000 men in Sweden prospectively followed for nine years [1].

The finding in a somewhat rarefied population–no women, geographically restricted, and probably with limited ethnic diversity–nonetheless conflicts with an analysis [2] of a similar but smaller group in which the risk of heart-failure hospitalization went up significantly for those drinking >5 cups of coffee per day, compared with lesser amounts, according to the authors of the new report, led by Dr Hanna N Ahmed (University of Wisconsin, Madison).

As the groups notes in the October 2009 American Heart Journal, the older finding made its way into a recent American Heart Association scientific statement [3], which characterizes coffee consumption as a possible minor risk factor for heart failure.

“The original studies . . . tended to show that coffee was associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, and I think that made a big impression on popular culture.”

Actually, few published studies have focused on coffee consumption and clinical heart-failure end points. There have been many looking for an effect on other cardiovascular diseases or diabetes.

“The original studies looking at coffee and cardiovascular events were primarily retrospective,” coauthor Dr Emily B Levitan (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA) told heartwire . “They tended to show that coffee was associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, and I think that made a big impression on popular culture. People thought that coffee was bad for the heart.”

But her group’s study is more in line with newer retrospective and other prospective studies, which “have not really shown a major increase in risk of cardiovascular diseases,” she said. “Telling people to reduce their coffee consumption or give it up to prevent heart failure is really premature. I don’t think the evidence supports coffee as a risk factor for heart failure.”

In the current study, 37 315 members of the Cohort of Swedish Men, which included men aged 45 to 79 in two counties in Sweden, were prospectively followed for nine years. Excluded from the analysis were men with a history of cancer, diabetes, MI, or heart failure at baseline.

About 2.1% of the group experienced heart-failure hospitalization or death over the follow-up. The relative risk (RR) was 0.99 (95% CI 0.82–1.18) among those who reported drinking >5 cups of coffee per day compared with <5 cups per day in multivariate analysis. Nor did lower rates of coffee consumption significantly increase risk. (The investigators didn’t control for hypertension, itself a risk factor for heart failure, to avoid possible underestimates of risk; coffee is known to increase blood pressure.)

Relative Risk (RR) of Death From Any Cause or Heart-Failure Hospitalization by Coffee Intake in Cups/Day

*Adjusted for age, body-mass index, total activity score, smoking, history of high cholesterol, family history of MI before age 60, education level, marital status, aspirin use, and intake of alcohol, tea, dietary fat, and sodium

No significant effect of coffee intake on risk was seen among the almost 5000 other men from the Swedish cohort who had a baseline history of either diabetes or MI.

The findings should be interpreted with a few things in mind regarding coffee in Sweden, according to Levitan. She said that most of the coffee consumed there these days is filtered, as it is in many other countries, but a minority of people, often older and living in rural areas, drink boiled coffee. With that more traditional method of preparation, which is probably rare in North America, coffee has higher levels of fatty acids that could have an effect on risk.

Also, she said, “In Sweden, decaffeinated coffee is almost unheard of.” The current analysis, therefore, can’t address whether there are differences in risk based on caffeine consumption. And the questionnaires used in the study, the group writes, “did not differentiate between caffeinated and uncaffeinated sodas, so we were unable to measure total caffeine intake.”

References:

1. Ahmed HN, Levitan EB, Wolk A, Mittleman MA. Coffee consumption and risk of heart failure in men: An analysis from the Cohort of Swedish Men. Am Heart J 2009; 158:667-672. Abstract
2. Wilhelmsen L, Rosengren A, Eriksson H, Lappas G. Heart failure in the general population of men: Morbidity, risk factors and prognosis. J Intern Med 2001; 249:253–261. Abstract
3. Schocken DD, Benjamin EJ, Fonarow GC, et al. Prevention of heart failure: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association Councils on Epidemiology and Prevention, Clinical Cardiology, Cardiovascular Nursing, and High Blood Pressure Research; Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Interdisciplinary Working Group; and Functional Genomics and Translational Biology Interdisciplinary Working Group. Circulation 2008; 117:2544-2565. Abstrac

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1. Coffee: No.1 Source of Antioxidants

Coffee provides more than just a morning jolt; that steaming cup of java or mandheling  is also the number one source of antioxidants in some countries and,  particularly, in the U.S. diet, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Scranton (Pa.). Their study was described at the 230th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.

“Americans get more of their antioxidants from coffee than any other dietary source. Nothing else comes close,” says study leader Joe Vinson, Ph.D., a chemistry professor at the university. Although fruits and vegetables are generally promoted as good sources of antioxidants, the new finding is surprising because it represents the first time that coffee has been shown to be the primary source from which most Americans get their antioxidants, Vinson says. Both caffeinated and decaf versions appear to provide similar antioxidant levels, he adds.

He cautions that high antioxidant levels in foods and beverages don’t necessarily translate into levels found in the body. The potential health benefits of these antioxidants ultimately depends on how they are absorbed and utilized in the body, a process that is still poorly understood, says Vinson, whose study was primarily funded by the American Cocoa Research Institute.

The news follows a growing number of reports touting the potential health benefits of drinking coffee. It also comes at an appropriate time: Coffee consumption is on the rise in the United States and over half of Americans drink it everyday, according to the National Coffee Association.

Antioxidants in general have been linked to a number of potential health benefits, including protection against heart disease and cancer. For the current study, Vinson and his associates analyzed the antioxidant content of more than 100 different food items, including vegetables, fruits, nuts, spices, oils and common beverages. The data was compared to an existing U.S. Department of Agriculture database on the contribution of each type of food item to the average estimated U.S. per capita consumption.

Coffee came out on top, on the combined basis of both antioxidants per serving size and frequency of consumption, Vinson says. Java easily outranked such popular antioxidant sources as tea, milk, chocolate and cranberries, he says. Of all the foods and beverages studied, dates actually have the most antioxidants of all based solely on serving size, according to Vinson. But since dates are not consumed at anywhere near the level of coffee, the blue ribbon goes to our favorite morning pick-me-up as the number one source of antioxidants, he says.

Besides keeping you alert and awake, coffee has been linked to an increasing number of potential health benefits, including protection against liver and colon cancer, type 2 diabetes, and Parkinson’s disease, according to some recently published studies. But there’s also a downside: Java can make you jittery and cause stomach pains, while some studies have tied it to elevated blood pressure and heart rates. More research is needed, particularly human studies, to firmly establish its health benefits, Vinson says.

While the findings would seem to encourage people to go out and drink more coffee, Vinson emphasizes moderation. “One to two cups a day appear to be beneficial,” he says. If you don’t like coffee, consider drinking black tea, which is the second most consumed antioxidant source in the U.S. diet, Vinson says. Bananas, dry beans and corn placed third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

But don’t forget about fresh fruits and veggies, the researcher cautions. “Unfortunately, consumers are still not eating enough fruits and vegetables, which are better for you from an overall nutritional point of view due to their higher content of vitamins, minerals and fiber,” Vinson says. Dates, cranberries and red grapes are among the top fruits for antioxidants on the basis of concentration (antioxidants per serving size), he says.

However, it is best for you to consider the science of the blood type diet in which it mentions that coffee is beneficial for those whose blood type A, B and AB. For Type ABs, it’s better to drink only  one cup of arabica coffee a day.  For Type Os, coffee increases already high stomach-acid levels they owned, so it is best if it is eliminated all together. Actually,  some Type Os already had good adaption to coffee and they have no problem with drinking coffee, but still with limited dosage of one cup of  arabica a day.

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1. No Link Between Heart Failure and Coffee Intake