Could caffeine help protect cardiometabolic health?

• A new study suggests that moderate consumption of coffee and caffeine on a regular basis could be beneficial to prevent diseases like type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and stroke.
• Compared with people who did not consume caffeine at all or very little per day, people who drank 3 coffee drinks per day or 200 to 300 milligrams (mg) of caffeine a day had a 48.1% or 40.7% reduced risk for new-onset cardiometabolic multimorbidity.
• Experts tout many of the other beneficial properties in tea and coffee but warn that other caffeinated beverages may not have the same benefits — and that there os no causal relationship between prevention of cardiometabolic multimorbidity and caffeine.

Moderate consumption of coffee and caffeine on a regular basis may help prevent cardiometabolic multimorbidity — or the co-occurrence of cardiometabolic diseases — which includes conditions such as type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and stroke, a new study suggests.

The UK Biobank study data included inpatient hospital data, death registry records, primary care history, and self-reported medical conditions. After eliminating people with ambiguous information regarding their caffeine intake, the researchers were left with more than 360,000 people for analysis.

This new study found that, compared with people who did not drink caffeine at all or who drank less than 100 milligrams (mg) per day, people who drank three coffee drinks per day or 200 to 300 mg of caffeine a day had a 48.1% or 40.7% reduced risk for new-onset cardiometabolic diseases.

Previous studies have assessed the potential benefits of coffee, tea, and caffeine, but their role in the prevention of any cardiometabolic diseases has not been clearly defined.

This study’s results, too, suggest an association rather than a causal relationship.

Nevertheless, this association may be meaningful to health, seeing that people with a single cardiometabolic disease may have twice the mortality risk of those without any cardiometabolic diseases, according to the researchers.

Moreover, those with cardiometabolic multimorbidity may also have an up to seven times higher risk of all-cause mortality. The researchers also noted that cardiometabolic multimorbidity may present higher risks of loss of physical function and mental stress than those with single diseases.

In a press release, Chaofu Ke, MD, PhD, of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health at Suzhou Medical College of Soochow University, in Suzhou, China, and the lead author of the study, noted that:

“The findings highlight that promoting moderate amounts of coffee or caffeine intake as a dietary habit to healthy people might have far-reaching benefits for the prevention of [cardiometabolic multimorbidity].”

Caffeine has been associated with various adverse effects, including insomnia, depression, incontinence, headaches, and stomach problems.

People with type 2 diabetes report that their blood glucose (sugar) levels rise after consuming caffeine. There is some evidence that caffeine may impair insulin action, leading to a small but detectable rise in blood sugar levels, particularly after meals.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that healthy adults limit their caffeine intake to a maximum of 400 mg a day, or about 4 or 5 cups of coffee. This amount is not associated with negative effects.

• one 8-ounce cup of coffee: 95 to 200 mg
• one 12-ounce can of cola: 35 to 45 mg
• one 8-ounce energy drink: 70 to 100 mg
• one 8-ounce cup of tea: 14 to 60 mg.

Cheng-Han Chen, MD, a board-certified interventional cardiologist, and medical director of the Structural Heart Program at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, CA, who was not involved in the study, told Medical News Today that, while caffeine does have some negative effects like raising blood pressure, its beneficial properties outweigh its downsides.

“Caffeine itself will stimulate the central nervous system, leading to increased blood pressure and heart rates. It is also known to affect insulin sensitivity of cells, regulation of fat turnover, and blood vessel dilatation,“ he explained.

“However, both coffee and tea are complex beverages that contain hundreds of bioactive compounds, and it is likely that their biological effects extend beyond those of the caffeine itself. Compounds such as flavonoids, alkaloids, and polyphenols, are thought to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, and might be involved in glucose and lipid metabolism as well,” he added.

“Some of the positive effects seen in the study might be due to the many hundreds of other biological compounds in coffee and tea besides the caffeine,” Chen further noted.

MNT also spoke with Melanie Murphy Richter, MS, RDN, a registered dietitian nutritionist and the director of communications for the nutrition company Prolon, who was not involved in the study.

Richter said that caffeine’s relationship with the cardiometabolic system is complex and depends on how much someone consumes:

“Caffeine can temporarily raise blood pressure and cause mild vasoconstriction (narrowing of blood vessels), which might seem like negative effects for heart health. It also has a mild diuretic effect, which can lead to dehydration in certain cases. These short-term effects are why some people associate caffeine with negative cardiovascular outcomes.”

“However,“ she pointed out, “this study focuses on moderate caffeine intake — around 200–300 mg per day, or roughly 2-3 cups of coffee — and the findings suggest that at this level, caffeine might actually have protective benefits for the cardiometabolic system.“

As for the mechanism that might underlie this association, Richter also explained that “caffeine can enhance insulin sensitivity, meaning the body responds better to insulin, which can help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.“

“It also has anti-inflammatory properties, which are important in preventing chronic conditions like coronary heart disease. Additionally, caffeine may boost fat metabolism, helping the body more efficiently use fat as an energy source, which supports overall metabolic health,” she noted.

Chen cautioned that not all caffeinated beverages are created equal, and that certain populations should avoid caffeine, in general.

“In other foods containing caffeine such as sodas and chocolate, I suspect that any potential benefit of the caffeine would be offset by the high amount of sugar contained in those foods,” he said. “We recommend limiting caffeine intake in people with: hard-to-control blood pressure, problems with irregular heart rhythms, stress or anxiety, or with stomach ulcers. Pregnant women should also avoid excessive caffeine intake.”

Richter echoed this advice, saying that the study’s findings regarding coffee could be because of its antioxidant properties, and they might not so readily apply to other caffeinated beverages.

“Energy drinks or processed caffeine sources may not have the same positive effects because they lack those additional compounds that work synergistically together,“ she cautioned.

“So, if we’re talking about a ‘preferable’ source, coffee — especially without added sugar and cream, ideally — might be a healthy choice, according to this data,” Richter said.

However, she also emphasized that:

“There are certain conditions where caffeine [consumption] isn’t a great idea. People with heart arrhythmias, for example, should definitely limit caffeine because it can increase heart rate or trigger irregular heartbeats. Pregnant women also need to be cautious because too much caffeine can be risky for fetal development. And for people with anxiety disorders, caffeine might make them more jittery and uncomfortable.”