Moderate Coffee Consumption Reduces Risk of Multiple Cardiometabolic Diseases

In a new study on the UK Biobank cohort, habitual coffee or caffeine consumption, especially at a moderate level, was associated with a lower risk of new-onset cardiometabolic multimorbidity, which refers to the coexistence of at least two cardiometabolic diseases.

“Cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CM) is an increasing public health concern,” said Dr. Chaofu Ke from Suzhou Medical College at Soochow University and colleagues.

“Previous observational studies have suggested inverse associations between coffee, tea, and caffeine intake and risks of individual cardiometabolic diseases.”

“However, their associations with CM and related biological markers are unknown.”

The prospective study involved 172,315 (for caffeine analysis) and 188,091 (tea and coffee analysis) participants free of any cardiometabolic diseases at baseline from the UK Biobank.

The authors found that compared with non-consumers or consumers of less than 100 mg caffeine per day, consumers of moderate amount of coffee (3 drinks per day) or caffeine (200-300 mg per day) had a 48.1% or 40.7% reduced risk for new-onset CM.

“We excluded individuals who had ambiguous information on caffeine intake,” they explained.

“The resulting pool of participants included a total of 172,315 individuals who were free of any cardiometabolic diseases at baseline for the analyses of caffeine, and a corresponding 188,091 individuals for the analyses of coffee and tea consumption.”

“The participants’ cardiometabolic diseases outcomes were identified from self-reported medical conditions, primary care data, linked inpatient hospital data and death registry records linked to the UK Biobank.”

Coffee and caffeine intake at all levels were inversely associated with the risk of new-onset CM in participants without cardiometabolic diseases.

Those who reported moderate coffee or caffeine intake had the lowest risk.

Moderate coffee or caffeine intake was inversely associated with almost all developmental stages of CM.

“Consuming three cups of coffee, or 200-300 mg caffeine, per day might help to reduce the risk of developing cardiometabolic multimorbidity in individuals without any cardiometabolic disease,” Dr. Ke said.

The findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

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Xujia Lu et al. Habitual Coffee, Tea, and Caffeine Consumption, Circulating Metabolites, and the Risk of Cardiometabolic Multimorbidity. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, published September 17, 2024; doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgae552