Coronary heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death in American women, according to the American Heart Association. To help stave off artery disease, live as healthy as you can, which means exercising daily, limiting your intake of saturated fats and cholesterol and maintaining a healthy weight. Some evidence suggests that you can add drinking coffee to that list. Coffee drinking is linked with a decrease in heart disease among the female population.
Coffee and Heart Disease in Women
A study published in the "Annals of Internal Medicine" in 2008 finds that women who drink coffee have a lower risk of heart disease. Subjects included 84,214 women who were followed from 1980 to 2004; their coffee intake and prevalence of heart disease were tracked. Women who drank two to three cups of daily coffee were 25 percent less likely to suffer from heart disease than those that did not regularly drink coffee.
Mechanism
The mechanism between coffee and heart disease is in the functioning of your blood vessels and inflammation. Your endothelial cells line your vessels and allow them to function properly. When these cells become damaged they can not do their job. Coffee protects and encourages proper function of endothelial cells. C-reactive protein is a blood marker that indicates inflammation and heart disease. According to the study published in the "Annals of Internal Medicine," high coffee consumption keeps c-reactive protein down indicating that it also helps control inflammation and reduce heart disease.
Coffee and Stroke in Women
The development of a stroke follows the same route as the process of heart disease. A recent study found that coffee intake among women can also reduce the risk of stroke. The study published in "Stroke" in 2011 found drinking at least one cup of coffee per day reduces a woman's chances for a stroke by 22 to 25 percent.
Considerations
Women must face additional gender-related health concerns when considering coffee intake. For example, drinking coffee during pregnancy is not ideal for you or your growing baby. In addition, a previous diagnosis of hypertension or heart disease warrants caution when consuming caffeine. In these cases, speak with your physician regarding a safe amount of coffee for consumption. According to MayoClinic.com, healthy women can safely consume between 200 and 300 mg of caffeine per day. This is equal to the caffeine inside two to four cups of coffee, right around the coffee intake of the women in the studies.
References
- American Heart Association: Women, Heart Disease and Stroke
- "Annals of Internal Medicine"; The Relationship of Coffee Consumption with Mortality; Esther Lopez-Garcia, et al.; 2008
- "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition"; Coffee Consumption and Markers of Inflammation and Endothelial Dysfunction in Healthy and Diabetic Women; Esther Lopez-Garcia, et al.; 2006
- USA Today: Coffee May Have Perks for Longer Living; Angela Haupt; June 2008
- Time.com: Study: Drinking Coffee May Lower Women's Risk of Stroke; Meredith Melnick; March 2011
- MayoClinic.com: Caffeine - You May Like Caffeine's Effects But How Much is Too Much?; March 9, 2011
