Drinking Coffee And Tea Cuts Heart Disease Risk! Yes!
United Press International, 06-21-10
Good news fellow addicts! Actually, make that great news! But make sure you read all the way down for the catch.
A large study in the Netherlands found moderate consumption of coffee or tea cuts the risk of heart disease significantly, researchers say.
Dr. Yvonne van der Schouw of the University Medical Center Utrecht said the multi-year study suggests coffee and tea drinking do not increase the risk of death from any cause, The Daily Telegraph reported. She and her colleagues tracked 37,514 people for 13 years in one of the biggest studies on the subject.
Tea had a bigger impact than coffee, van der Schouw said. Those who drank between three and six cups of tea daily were 45 percent less likely to suffer coronary disease than those who drank less than one cup, while with heavy drinkers — more than six cups — the risk was reduced by 36 percent.
The risk of heart disease was cut by 20 percent among those who drank two to four cups of coffee. The researchers noted coffee drinkers are more likely to smoke.
Van der Schouw believes antioxidants in coffee and tea are responsible for the health benefits.
The study was published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology: Journal of the American Heart Association.
The Catch
Make sure it’s organic and therefore toxin free. Simple, huh? Oh – and no prizes for guessing that sugar is a no-no. Buuuut …. (and thanks for the tip from my BioSignature colleague Mike D) … a great way to enjoy your coffee and also fight carb or sugar cravings is to add a touch of heavy cream (I use organic raw cream from the Farmers Market), 1 tsp glutamine, 1 scoop Uber inositol . . very yummm.
Make it a fat burning java
Turn your regular cup of joe into a fat-burning delight by adding heavy cream (see above) PLUS cinnamon. Cinnamon is well known for its ability to deal with blood sugar issues, and is commonly used in diabetes treatment.
Now be honest here – I know I’m not the only one thrilled to have a(nother) great reason to keep my vice of choice!
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Hi Kat I was hoping you could help me out with a question on coffee. I only really have one black coffee a day. I generally have it around 10.30 which happens to usually be straight after my morning workout. This has been habit for a long time and is when i most feel like a coffee. I read a few weeks back a comment from Charles Poliquin that this is the worst time to drink coffee and am now trying to rearrange my habits to have before workout but finding it hard. Just wondering just how bad it is post workout just one coffee and or how long would you have to wait after your workout to not have a bad affect. Just wondering how much to worry about pushing myself to change a much loved habbit. Of course if its stopping me get to the next stage in my training i will do it.
That’s a great question. Drinking coffee PWO is really awful if fat loss is a goal … or even if it’s not. Exercise elevates cortisol, and coffee drives it up further. To maximise fat loss, metabolism, and lean muscle gain we need to do what we can to reduce cortisol after training. Have it before training and you’ll get a great benefit!
I love coffee! I do agree that coffee during time of stress is not optimal. But, damn, I love coffee, and have been drinking it in the middle of my fast, and frequently after my workouts.
Good post to remind me to back off PWO coffee enjoyment.
Best,
Johnny
I love PWO coffee as well but it’s definitely not the best idea!
Caffeine PWO isnt such a bad thing for recovery though? There is not really many studies on it but the one that has been conducted was published in the Journal of Applied Physiology and they found that muscle glycogen is replenished faster after exhaustive exercise when athletes eat both carbohydrates and drink caffeine. Researchers found that athletes who followed this regime had 66% more glycogen in their muscles four hours after finishing intense, glycogen depeleting exercise, compared to eating carbohydrate alone.
The only thing though was that in this study the levels of caffeine used were really quite high and the subjects were all highly-trained athletes. I havnt read anything that Charles Poliquin has said about it, what did he say?
That’s interesting; I haven’t heard it put that way before. I’d be curious to know the outcome of a longer term study on that, because ultimately caffeine increases cortisol, which increases inflammation. This is why the big man doesn’t advise PWO coffee. The goal PWO is to reduce cortisol as rapidly as possible in order to maximise insulin sensitivity and thus burn fat AND build lean muscle more effectively. The problem with coffee is that it will keep cortisol raised, so it’s preferable to drink it pre-training when you WANT to boost cortisol. Certainly if you were going to drink it PWO I’d make sure there’s some quality protein, glutamine, glycine etc going in first.
Reading your post makes me want a cup. Love the smell love the taste and also now have discovered the taste of coffee w/raw cream. However, since I’ve just recently discovered I’m in Stage 3 Adrenal fatigue. Caffeine isn’t really in my health restoration protocol…..:( Will have to pic up some organic decaf…
Oh no! Worth giving those adrenals a break though 🙂
good heart disease risk post, however, i should learn more about it…
Thanks for posting this. Coffee’s reputation goes back and forth so many times it makes my head spin. And I do love a cup of Joe.
Thanks alot for this great post pls keep up the good work. I will definitely come back to read more!
Neat website! Check out my site. Guess what it’s about? Coffee 😀
Hi Kat
Your tip to add cream, Uber inositol and Glutamine to my coffee is a fabulous idea. I tried this combination straight away – it was great! I always struggle with taking my supplements so this tip has been very helpful.
Given the good news above for coffee consumers, how many cups a day do you consider reasonable please?