Coffee Maybe Not a Health Drink!

perbert writes "Canadian researchers have published a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association indicating that excess coffee drinking (4+ cups a day) could lead to an increased risk of heart disease if you have the wrong gene. In light of other studies linking antioxidants in coffee to a reduction in heart disease, who is right? Or will they cancel out in a coffee death-match?"

Comments

here we go again

[dkode]

More and more often I keep hearing about things like this.

"Doctors say more than 4 cups is bad for you!"

then, 2 months later... "Doctors say more than 4 cups is good for you!"

One month you hear too much fiber is bad for you, then cholesterol is good for you.

I think as long as everyone comsumes food/drinks moderately and not go over board most people have nothing to worry about. Although, with obesity in the United States the way it is today, I would say it's already too late.

Ex Caffeine Junky

[garcia]

I was basically forced to quit drinking caffeine in Decemeber. This was not something I ever expected to be able to do. The migraine lasted for about a week straight but I have been basically fine since.

Since I was 22 I have had high blood pressure. I've spoken here about it before and complained about the high cost of Rx meds to control it and my belief that my Doctor (undercompensated by my insurance provider) is possibly pushing name-brand drugs instead of their generic counterparts to recoup some of that cost in kick-backs.

Anyway, I was gaining on 200mg daily of various meds to control the BP. I was also gaining in daily consumption of caffeine. After switching to Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper (aka Liquid Crack) I was heading for 5 to 6 20oz bottles a day (at work) plus 5 to 10 12oz cans every two days (at home).

After quitting the caffeine habbit I'm on 10mg of BP meds (about $10 a month) and water.

So, if you're looking to limit your heart disease and the high cost of protecting yourself against it with prescriptions, you might want to first take a look at your caffeine intake. It worked for me.

Re:Dose

[ergo98]

As with anything related to toxicology, the dose is the poison.

To a point, however that simplifies and misses the point of the article: The researchers are claiming that there are two common variants of the gene responsible for the systems that breaks down coffee, and those with one variant are made healthier by 3 cups of coffee a day, while those with the other variant (CYP1A2*1F) are detrimentally affected by the same.

So it's the dose...and the genes that build the systems that deal with the dose.

Re:Dose

[Alex P Keaton in da]

Also, as with anything else, direct causation is almost impossible to prove. 4+ cups of coffee leads to heart disease? I would postulate, not from scientific study but from anecdotal evidence gathered over years of stressful jobs, that the people under the most pressure and stress tend to drink the most coffee. So maybe the stress is what is causing the heart disease?
Also, coffee is so acidic that people who work out everyday are not likely to be able to drink 4+ cups a day (again, non scientific anecdotal evidence). Coffee is currently fashionable, but when I think of a stereotypical coffee addict like myslelf, I dont think of a slim trim health nut...