June 28, 2006

Can Espresso Reduce the Chance for Heart Disease?

So I know that the news always comes out in waves both good and bad about coffee, but here’s one for you, coffee may reduce the chances for heart disease in older women. No word on what a double shot of espresso would do though! A 15-year study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows fewer deaths from heart disease or other noncancerous inflammatory diseases for postmenopausal women who reported drinking at least one to three daily cups of coffee.

If coffee was responsible for those results, "the implications are considerable, being that coffee is the second most widely consumed drink worldwide," write the researchers. They included Lene Frost Andersen, PhD, of the nutrition department at Norway's University of Oslo. Coffee is a major dietary source of antioxidants, which may curb inflammation and heart disease, write Andersen and colleagues, stressing that their findings need to be confirmed.