COFFEE and HEALTH

News Articles & More on Your Health

New Discoveries in Science & Medicine:

Coffee, a new aid for postmenopausal women

Coffee, the second most popular drink in the world may also be the
one of the most healthy. The latest news on coffee and health is that
drinking one to three cups of coffee per day might help save
postmenopausal women's hearts.

A 15-year study published in The American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition shows fewer deaths from heart disease or other
non-cancerous inflammatory diseases for postmenopausal women
who reported drinking at least one to three daily cups of coffee.

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.

The study conducted by researchers from the nutrition department at
Norway's University of Oslo included 27,312 postmenopausal women
who took part in the Iowa Women's Health study.

When the study began in 1986, participants were 55-69 years old
and hadn't been diagnosed with conditions including heart disease,
diabetes, or cancer (except for skin cancer).

The women completed a 127-item survey about their daily coffee
consumption, cigarette and alcohol use, and other health habits
(including diet and exercise). None of the women were asked to drink
more or less coffee or change anything else in their lives for the
study's sake.

They were followed for 15 years. During that time, a total of 1,411
participants died of heart disease, 1,733 died of cancer, and 1,211
died of other diseases.
The women who had reported drinking one to three daily cups of
coffee (or more) at the study's start were less likely to have died of
heart disease or other inflammatory diseases (but not cancer) during
the study.

Women who reported drinking one to three daily cups of coffee at
the study's start were 24 per cent less likely to die of heart disease
during the study, compared with those who didn't drink coffee.

Women who reported drinking one to three daily cups of coffee at
the study's start were also 28 per cent less likely to die of other
non-cancerous inflammatory diseases, compared with those who
didn't drink coffee, the study shows.

Cancer deaths did not show any association with coffee consumption.
Those results are adjusted for other factors and "were not repeated
for other beverages, including tea, fruit juice, sugar-sweetened
drinks, diet soda, and skim, low-fat, and whole milk," write Andersen
and colleagues.

The researchers call for caution in interpreting the results explaining
that the study doesn't prove that coffee consumption was solely
responsible for the findings.
The data also doesn't show antioxidant levels in the women's coffee.

In conclusion, the researchers say results are consistent with a
protective effect of intake of one to three cups of coffee per day on
total death and death from cardiovascular and other inflammatory
diseases in a group of postmenopausal women.

COFFEE and HEALTH

News Articles & More on Your Health

New Discoveries in Science & Medicine:

Coffee, a new aid for postmenopausal women

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