Moderate caffeine consumption linked to lower risk of developing several cardiometabolic diseases, study finds

Regularly consuming moderate amounts of coffee and caffeine may offer a protective effect against the development of multiple cardiometabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke, according to a new study published in the Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism. The article is titled “Habitual coffee, tea and caffeine consumption, circulating metabolites and risk of cardiometabolic multimorbidity”.

The researchers found that regular coffee or caffeine consumption, especially at moderate levels, was associated with a lower risk of new-onset cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CMM), which refers to the coexistence of two or more cardiometabolic diseases.

The prevalence of people with multiple cardiometabolic diseases, or CM, is becoming a growing public health concern as populations age worldwide, the study notes.

Researchers have found that coffee and caffeine consumption may play an important protective role in almost all phases of CM development.

“Consuming three cups of coffee, or 200 to 300 mg of caffeine, per day may help reduce the risk of developing cardiometabolic multimorbidity in individuals without any cardiometabolic diseases,” said study lead author Chaofu Ke, MD, PhD, of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Suzhou Medical College, Soochow University, Suzhou, China.

The study found that, compared with non-consumers or consumers of less than 100 mg of caffeine per day, consumers of moderate amounts of coffee (three drinks per day) or caffeine (200 to 300 mg per day) had the lowest risk of developing new CD (48.1% and 40.7% reduced risk, respectively).

Ke and his colleagues based their findings on data from the UK Biobank, a large, detailed longitudinal dietary study of more than 500,000 participants aged 37 to 73. The study excluded people whose information about caffeine consumption was ambiguous.

The resulting participant group included a total of 172,315 individuals who were free of any cardiometabolic disease at baseline for the caffeine analyses, and 188,091 matched individuals for the coffee and tea consumption analyses.

Participants’ cardiometabolic disease outcomes were identified from self-reported medical conditions, primary care data, linked hospital data and death records linked to the UK Biobank.

Coffee and caffeine consumption at all levels was inversely associated with the risk of developing CAD in participants without cardiometabolic diseases. The study found that those who reported moderate coffee or caffeine consumption had the lowest risk. Moderate coffee or caffeine consumption was inversely associated with almost all stages of CAD development.

“The results highlight that promoting moderate coffee or caffeine consumption as a dietary habit for healthy people could have considerable beneficial effects on CD prevention,” Ke said.

Filling a research gap

Numerous epidemiological studies have revealed the protective effects of coffee, tea, and caffeine consumption on the morbidity of certain cardiometabolic diseases. However, the potential effects of these beverages on the development of CD were largely unknown.

The authors reviewed the available research on this topic and found that people with a single cardiometabolic disease may have a risk of all-cause mortality twice as high as those without any cardiometabolic disease.

In contrast, the researchers found that people with CD may have a nearly four to seven times higher risk of all-cause mortality. The researchers also noted that CD may pose higher risks of loss of physical function and mental stress than people with a single disease.