One more heart-healthy benefit of coffee

With all the coffee shops and specialty coffee stores in the U.S., you’d think we would rank at the top globally for coffee drinking -but, no. A new survey finds that we’re 25th in the world in per capita consumption of coffee. Nonetheless, Americans consume 3.3 billion pounds of coffee a year -- or 517 million cups a day.

For coffee-drinking Americans there’s plenty of good news, because drinking between one and four cups daily of the black, filtered brew confers substantial health benefits. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, it reduces the risk of death from coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease, offers some protection from Parkinson’s, promotes healthy blood glucose levels, protects your liver, reduces the risk of colon cancer and may protect against Alzheimer’s.

Now a study in the journal Nutrients shows that folks who drink two or three cups a day (always make sure it’s filtered, black, with no added sugar) have lower blood pressure than those who drink one or no cups daily. The researchers’ data showed lower systolic and pulse pressure for coffee drinkers in both peripheral circulation and central aortic pressure. Drinking two cups a day resulted in a systolic (top number) blood pressure that was up to 6.8 mmhg lower than non-coffee drinkers’ and drinking three or more resulted in a systolic blood pressure that was up to 12.9 mmhg lower. That gives a substantial boost to heart health. Tip: not filtering and adding sugars, syrups and saturated fats in milk or creamers works against the benefits!