TAKE ♥, COFFEE LOVERS

Caffeine cardio aid

Drinking at least one cup of caffeinated coffee a day could help reduce the risk of heart failure, according to a report.

The research, published Tuesday in the journal Circulation: Heart Failure, determined after examining data from three major studies that java consumption is beneficial.

Compared with people who didn’t drink coffee, java lovers were found to have a decreased risk of heart failure between 5 and 12 percent for each cup they drank on a daily basis, according to the Framingham Heart Study and Cardiovascular Health.

That was the case for up to three cups of coffee, the report said.

A second study, from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities, determined that the risk of heart failure remained the same for drinking no coffee or one cup per day.

But that same study also indicated that two cups of coffee were associated with a 30 percent reduced risk of heart failure.

Decaf coffee didn’t have the same benefits as regular — and one study suggested that it might, in fact, be linked to a higher risk of cardiac problems.

Dr. David Kao, an assistant professor of cardiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, said that factor suggests caffeine may be the key link to heart health. “The association between caffeine and heart-failure risk reduction was surprising,” Kao said in a statement. “Coffee and caffeine are often considered by the general population to be bad for the heart because people associate them with palpitations, high blood pressure, etc.”

Still, Kao warned against rushing out to make an extra Starbucks run just yet. “There is not yet enough clear evidence to recommend increasing coffee consumption to decrease risk of heart disease with the same strength and certainty as stopping smoking, losing weight or exercising,” he said.