Coffee Won’t Race Your Heart to Life’s Finish Line

People love their coffee. Some even claim that they can’t function normally without a steaming hot cup of it going down their gullet every morning. That’s tough to truly believe, but the point is that people love to have coffee in their lives.

According to a new study from the University of California-San Francisco, it’s suggested that coffee – and other caffeinated beverages – are not as harmful for a heart’s rhythm as previously believed.

“Clinical recommendations advising against the regular consumption of caffeinated products to prevent disturbances of the heart’s cardiac rhythm should be reconsidered,” explained Dr. Gregory Marcus, the researcher at the helm of this study. “We may unnecessarily be discouraging consumption of items like chocolate, coffee and tea that might actually have cardiovascular benefits. Given our recent work demonstrating that extra heartbeats can be dangerous, this finding is especially relevant.”

As part of the research, 1,388 people (with an average of 72) were zoned in on. Out of this bunch, 60% admitted to drinking a caffeinated beverage each day.

Researchers then measured for premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) and premature atrial contractions (PACs). It was soon determined that caffeine consumption did not encourage either type of heart contraction to occur more often in the consumer.

This is great news, as both PVCs and PACs are serious business. The Telegraph explains that PVCs are associated with a higher rate of heart failure, coronary artery disease and death, while PACs have been known to cause strokes, atrial fibrillation and death.

“Regular coffee consumption has been associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus and other cardiovascular risk factors such as obesity and depression,” reads an excerpt from the research report, which was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. “Furthermore, large observational studies have found that habitual coffee drinkers have lower rates of coronary artery disease and of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality.”

All of that said, we still wouldn’t recommend drinking a gallon of coffee a day or anything. Even if it doesn’t give you enough caffeine to make your heart beat out of whack, it could provide enough of an energy boost to make you think you could race a horse – that wouldn’t be safe…or competitive.

-Adam Grant